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Google: We’ve acquired Motorola Mobility
- fierarul 14y agoI expect some interesting announcement for Google I/O.
- objclxt 14y agoMaybe, but not because of the acquisition and maybe not due to Motorola: it is standard practice for companies that are acquired to operate completely independently until the deal closes and gets full regulatory approval, which would be today.
- LaaT 14y agoI suspect other phone manufacturers will be less eager to invest in Android as a platform. Symbian's ownership was a huge problem back in the day. We will see a repeat of the drama I am afraid.
- juliano_q 14y agoIn my vision, these companies (Samsung, HTC, LG, etc) did not "invested" in Android. They used free Google software to actually save their own skins. What chance any of them would have in the smartphone transition using their own home-made software? I dont think they have much options now, the Windows Phone choice is not giving good results for Nokia and I think the only choice they have to compete against Apple is to have an unified environment so the users can benefit of more apps, and this is exactly what Android gives to them, for free.
- brudgers 14y ago"the Windows Phone choice is not giving good results for Nokia" Nokia's problems have nothing to do with Windows Phone. They're still offering lots of Symbian handsets [http://www.nokia.com/us-en/products/products/ http://www.nokia.com/us-en/products/products/] to compete head to head with iOS, Android, and WP7. A renaissance for the brick format or Symbian was no more likely a year ago than it is today. For me, it's hard to see how betting on a MeeGo app ecosystem would have given them a growing market share over the long term. Android rose because it was cheap and available as an alternative to iOS. Google realized a first mover advantage in the "not Apple" segment of the market. Now with Motorola Mobility purchase, they have the opportunity to bring more of the profits back in house. I suspect that Google's long term hardware strategy, if they have one, is to go head to head with Nokia in the developing world by deploying the next generation of feature phones and collecting data in rapidly developing markets like Africa.
- air 14y ago"For me, it's hard to see how betting on a MeeGo app ecosystem would have given them a growing market share over the long term." I think the implied alternative was Android, not MeeGo.
- brudgers 14y agoIf Android, then Nokia would be in the same boat as HTC, Samsung, etc. are today...paying Microsoft to use Android and facing the prospect of going head to head with Google's house brand.
- vetinari 14y agoNote how Motorola and Sony do not pay Microsoft for using Android. All the other Android vendors license Windows for some other area of their business. These two do not and Microsoft has no leverage to force them. (Yes, I know about Microsoft suing Motorola and Motorola suing Microsoft back).
- Elepsis 14y agoYou realize Sony is one of the top 10 largest manufacturers of PCs running Windows, right?
- samuellevy 14y agoSamsung at least seems to have far too much invested in Android now to consider dropping it (hell, they're making the best-selling android phones on the market). This isn't a surprise for anyone, though. They have been working towards this purchase for a while, so if any of the manufacturers were likely to baulk at it, they already would have done so. Here's hoping that google puts out some great handsets, and makes this a real game-changing move.
- LaaT 14y agoI had the impression that Samsung was readying themselves for this with Bada. There will probably give more weight to it from now on, while investing less and less in Android. It won't be an overnight withdrawal for sure.
- dagw 14y agoSamsung is however also investing in Tizen. So while I doubt they have any plans of dropping Android, I wouldn't be surprised if they have people working on plans on to handle a situation where doing so becomes expedient.
- bad_user 14y agoSamsung makes great phones, but they suck at software and at creating a developer community around their software. I don't see how this is going to change.
- twelvechairs 14y agoSamsung have always hedged their bets with OS's. Even while making the Galaxy S and SII they also made phones using their own OS (bada) and Symbian OS. They are currently producing a Windows phone (Samsung Focus S) in addition to Bada and Android devices. They are also involved with Tizen. This is purely for their own phones too, not mentioning the parts they produce which go into others (original iphone processor etc.)
- hej 14y agoWhat alternative is there for these companies? Windows? Short of shooting for the moon (i.e. developing their own OS) I don't see any alternative.
- bad_user 14y agoAndroid benefits from the lock-in effect of Google Play and the apps distributed by Google, like GMail and Google Maps. It also benefits from all the improvements that Google is pushing at a fast pace. Amazon may have the strength to open its own app store for the Kindle. But it can only do so because the Kindle is just a means to a purpose, which is consuming stuff from Amazon's store. Apple may have the strength to build their own alternative to Google Maps, but they are Apple. On the other hand, did anybody here ever used the Samsung App Store? (http://www.samsungapps.com http://www.samsungapps.com). I didn't think so. And what's an Android phone without Google's apps and Google's Play? It's just a shitty smartphone. Actually I think it's great news that Google buys Motorola, because maybe, just maybe, these phone manufacturers will drop those silly enhancements and start getting in line with the official updates.
- fluidcruft 14y agoGoogle doesn't have to treat Motorola specially. I think what Motorola gives Google is guaranteed buyin by at least one manufacturer to any of Android's initiatives. Think about the failure of last year's Android Update Alliance. I'm sure all the manufacturers were playing chicken to see if any other would actually invest the resources to keep their phones up to date. From now on when Android announces something similar, you can pretty much guarantee that Motorola is "willing" participant #1. I assume that changes the calculus of to what extent other manufacturers participate. Mostly I think Google's gunning for the carriers at this point. Carriers seem to keep enjoying getting in Google's way.
- duaneb 14y agoWhat on earth will they use? Whatever windows mobile variant exists now?
- DonnyV 14y agoWhats the worst thing that could happen? All the manufactures drop Android? Good, then we will get an official, not messed with, Android phone directly from Google. I see only good in this.
- dagw 14y agoIf that happens then Androids market share will quickly drop below that of WP7, most developers will react accordingly, WP7 will be the new Android and Android will be the new Meego. You might see that as a good thing, but I think many will disagree.
- freehunter 14y agoThis is an extreme worst-case scenario. I think the next purest "worst case" would be that suddenly the world explodes, exterminating all life in an instant. A more likely worst-case is that we get more companies supporting alternative OSes, marketshare evens out a bit from second place on down, and generally the world keeps on turning. If people like Android now, people won't stop liking it because Google is now making it themselves. Even in a worse-case scenario.
- nextparadigms 14y agoYou're grossly underestimating how many "Android" fans are out there, how many blogs promoting Android, and so on. The Android ecosystem is quite large. About as large as Apple's. They wouldn't just "leave Android". If anything people will treat Google even more like a cult, as Apple users treat Apple and their products. If the Google Glasses are successful, that sort of loyalty to Google will only increase, like it did for Apple with the iPhone, then with the iPad, and so on.
- dagw 14y agoSee I'm honestly not that sure that there are than many true Android fans out there. While Android phones probably outnumber iPhones among my circle of friends by a good 3:1, I don't know if many of them are really fans. Certainly not in the way people are fans of their iPhones. Most of them (including me) bought Android because you got a pretty good smart phone with a good ecosystem for a lot less than an iPhone, or because they preferred the hardware (larger screen, smaller screen, keyboard etc.), or often some combination of the two. "Android" is just an incidental detail that enables the above.
- willvarfar 14y agoI hope Motorola sets a new course towards premium iPhone territory. I've always found raw naked Android much nicer to use than the silly re-skinning every manufacturer wastes time adding. Sense and blur are bad, but Sony's Timescape was absolutely the low-point.
- raverbashing 14y agoYes One thing I learned from HW manufacturer is that they absolutely don't get SW development Zero, zilch, nada, NULL Hence, this results in wasting (a lot of) time with BS projects, lots of NIH syndrome, design by committee, etc I've heard and seem a lot of stories, I've worked in certain companies and I vowed never to work again there. They waste million of dollars thinking CrapCase and other "irrational" tools are ok. And that's why Cyanogenmod releases upgrades quicker than the manufacturers.
- esrauch 14y agoIt isn't really a fair comparison; Cyanogenmod has no legal liability for releasing flawed upgrades.
- TazeTSchnitzel 14y agoAnd Cyanogenmod doesn't have to get carrier approval.
- ceejayoz 14y agoDo carriers? The contract I signed with AT&T was pretty onerous.
- jrockway 14y agoDo carriers? The contract I signed with AT&T was pretty onerous. For you. For AT&T, it says they can come into your house and take any and all children of yours whenever they want. They wrote the contract and you have no choice but to agree, so they're certainly not going to go out of their way to be nice to you. (Their logo is the frickin' Death Star, after all!)
- zerostar07 14y agoI want my Google MotoGlasses special kit for the GoogleCar now.
- rjv 14y agoI thought this acquisition as was just about patents. As much as I would love to see some true "Google hardware," I suspect it will be business as usual.
- idspispopd 14y agoI suspect you're on the money here. Android is open source because Google wants everyone using ad-served google services. Not because google suddenly wants to start making margin on the phone business. (That failed the first time, and they definitely didn't need motorola to try it again.)
- brudgers 14y agoIt wouldn't surprise me to see Google licensing "Motorola" branding for the next generation of feature phones.
- josefonseca 14y ago> I thought this acquisition as was just about patents. This, IMHO should be the top comment here.
- ChuckMcM 14y agoI still think this is the primary consideration in this acquisition. That being said, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. When I was at Google there was a lot of challenges to creating any sort of hardware (the most capable of the groups was the Enterprise group that made the appliance and they still had a hell of a time at it). It is a very different discipline than 'iterate rapidly and ship early.' For Google's sake I hope they can successfully run this business, or recognize early enough that they can't. If it turns out that it isn't in their DNA to run a hardware biz then it is important to re-spin it out before it dies from mismanagement.
- tseabrooks 14y agoThis is kind of what I was thinking. I've worked at a HW / Consumer Electronics (One of the big ones) and in many ways all of the comments around here about HW companies not really getting SW are 100% true. However, I don't think it's any less true that many of the SW folks around here have almost no understanding of how HW development works.
- fallenhitokiri 14y agoPlease correct me if I am wrong since I am not sure if I got all facts right. Motorola is currently holding a patent on push technology. One of our courts in Germany stopped iCloud from pushing due to patent infringements. Now that Google bought Motorola Mobility do they own they patent? If this would be the fact I would predict that we will see more lawsuits against Apple regarding this one patent. Sounds like a great weapon - forcing your competitor to kill one of the interesting parts of a service they use for advertisement.
- henrikeh 14y agoI don't know. Powerful weapon? Sure. Good for the industry? I doubt it.
- abrahamsen 14y agoApple is currently suing all the major Android makers, including Motorola. Best case scenario: Googles new weapons will lead to a series of broad cross-license agreements, which will end the mobile patent wars.
- saket123 14y agoI wish that happens..Imagine how much more money can be pumped into next generation technology if Companies stop wasting time and money in patent wars.
- tedunangst 14y agoNone? Google and Apple are swimming in cash. They're already at, or even past, the point of diminishing returns for R&D spending.
- fallenhitokiri 14y agoI think there is just too much money you can make if you win the mobile patent wars. Wasn't Google making more money with patent payments from Apple than they make with Android?
- csears 14y agoI hope this means Android updates will no longer take 6-12 months to roll out to Motorola phones.
- smagch 14y agoGoogle bought Motorola just because ballmer said android isn't free? http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/03/android-isnt-free/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/03/android-isnt-free/
- spinchange 14y agoIt looks like they're putting in place some serious hitters in the Moto executive suite alongside Woodside. If it weren't for all the focus on patents, I would think these guys are serious about building hardware/consumer products.
- obilgic 14y agoI like their header design/animation...
- tbundy 14y agoLooking forward to 'droids that raise the bar. Android/Sense bit rot is horrible!
- Jun8 14y agoMost people here focus on the handsets but Moto Mobility's business that currently turns a profit is home (set top boxes and cable branch office equipment) where Motorola is big. I heard that Google is trying to use this advantage to boost GoogleTV but cable companies said they would boycott set top boxes that are Google branded, since they see it as a great threat. So the question is: will Google sell the Home division? If they do, this may have huge ramifications for the US cable landscape.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- MBCook 14y agoIn Kansas City, Google is laying it's gigabit fiber to the home. Earlier this year, Google got regulatory approval to offer video over their fiber service. [1] Google TV and their fiber service could be a pretty amazing combination. Getting to integrate the Motorola knowledge may make it better. Or, Google could try to push Google TV onto the companies who buy the Motorola boxes (through discounting/subsidies). [1] http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2012/03/16/kansas-regulators-say-google-can-offer.html http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2012/03/16/kansas...
- mkr-hn 14y agoGoogle builds a search engine, forces the competition to start improving. Google buys a webmail service, forces rapid improvements in the competition. Google builds a browser, forces rapid improvements in the competition (Firefox). Google buys a smartphone OS, competition already doing ok but probably tweaked some things. Google starts building an inexpensive fiber network, makes incumbents sweat a little. Google buys a smartphone manufacturer, forces competition to improve. Next up, probably a mobile telco provider. Google's thing seems to be improving the transfer and display of ads. Somehow they've turned that into a benefit to technology as a whole. It's a business model built on disruption.
- there 14y agoIf only there were a struggling US mobile provider looking to be sold that already had a large Android user base...
- redthrowaway 14y agoI wonder how long they could play that game before running afoul of antitrust legislation.
- debacle 14y agoAs long as they wanted, as long as they weren't anticompetitive.
- malandrew 14y ago... and operated below the market share (70%) that attracts antitrust scrutiny. In mobile OS, I think they can avoid being classified having 70% or anywhere near it since Android is technically open source and anyone can fork it, and several flavors such as the kindle version of Android aren't under their control. In the carrier space, they'd be far from owning a lot of market share. They just need to make sure that if they acquire such power that they restrain from anticompetitive practices afforded to them by their position.
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- DigitalSea 14y agoThere aren't many more industries Google can buy into and conquer, or are there? Coming soon: Google Oil Co and Google Power. I wonder what happens once Google have run out of markets to enter? Lets face it, Motorola were a struggling company finding it hard to keep up with the likes of Apple, lets see what Google can do and only hope their efforts are better than the time they launched Google+ and tried competing with Facebook.
- mbell 14y ago> Google Power They have already made strong investments in developing geo-thermal power.
- DigitalSea 14y agoAh, touché they have too. I forgot about their foray into both geo-thermal and solar power.
- kephra 14y agoLets hope, that Google stops Motorola to produce the most crappy androids. An android phone that is for the trashcan, at the moment you buy it, because its not possible to exchange the kernel to fix long known security bugs. And lets also hope that Google allows to update Kernels of old Motorola phones, also.