4 ms·

Google bought Motorola as a defensive patent move, it's almost completely intangible.

cremnob 13y ago
That's not working out too well. http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/26/4271432/does-anyone-know-why-google-bought-motorola http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/26/4271432/does-anyone-know-w...
- mullingitover 13y ago
  From that article: "Which again leads to the question: why did Google buy Motorola? The real answer is worth $12.5 billion." I love how people keep trotting this number out. Nevermind the fact that Moto had $3 billion in cash[1], which immediately became Google's cash when the purchase went through, so the real price was closer to 9.5 billion. Motorola also had 24,500 patents in its portfolio[2]. Apple, MS, and RIM paid 4.5 billion for 6,000 Nortel patents not long before the Moto sale. [1] http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/whats-behind-the-hefty-motorola-break-up-fee/?_r=0 http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/whats-behind-the-heft... [2] http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/08/valuing-patents http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/08/valuing-paten...
  - jussij 13y ago
    But that 9.5 billion investment is yet to return a profit: Motorola, acquired by Google in 2012, racked up a loss of $218 million before items, more than four times the $49 million it lost a year earlier. http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/07/19/google-earnings-ad-rates-motorola-losses/ http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/07/19/google-earnings-ad-ra...
    - srathi 13y ago
      They also recovered $3 billion by selling the set top box business.
  - nilsbunger 13y ago
    Do you have any data on the quality of the patents? I thought the Motorola ones were mostly standards-essential and were a "second tranche" after the cream of the crop was previously sold off. But I can't find a good reference that I believe...
    - mullingitover 13y ago
      It's anyone's guess. How do we know how many patent suits were avoided because Google had a new arsenal to fight back with? How many new patents have Moto engineers filed since the purchase? How do we put a dollar value on the hardware expertise that Google picked up in the purchase?
strandev 13y ago
12.5+ billion dollars isn't intangible, even for Google.
- treeface 13y ago
  He's trying to say that Google paid something tangible for something intangible. It's difficult to estimate the present value of a patent portfolio, ergo it's "intangible".

That's not working out too well. http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/26/4271432/does-anyone-know-why-google-bought-motorola http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/26/4271432/does-anyone-know-w...

mullingitover 13y ago
From that article: "Which again leads to the question: why did Google buy Motorola? The real answer is worth $12.5 billion." I love how people keep trotting this number out. Nevermind the fact that Moto had $3 billion in cash[1], which immediately became Google's cash when the purchase went through, so the real price was closer to 9.5 billion. Motorola also had 24,500 patents in its portfolio[2]. Apple, MS, and RIM paid 4.5 billion for 6,000 Nortel patents not long before the Moto sale. [1] http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/whats-behind-the-hefty-motorola-break-up-fee/?_r=0 http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/whats-behind-the-heft... [2] http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/08/valuing-patents http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/08/valuing-paten...
- jussij 13y ago
  But that 9.5 billion investment is yet to return a profit: Motorola, acquired by Google in 2012, racked up a loss of $218 million before items, more than four times the $49 million it lost a year earlier. http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/07/19/google-earnings-ad-rates-motorola-losses/ http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/07/19/google-earnings-ad-ra...
  - srathi 13y ago
    They also recovered $3 billion by selling the set top box business.
- nilsbunger 13y ago
  Do you have any data on the quality of the patents? I thought the Motorola ones were mostly standards-essential and were a "second tranche" after the cream of the crop was previously sold off. But I can't find a good reference that I believe...
  - mullingitover 13y ago
    It's anyone's guess. How do we know how many patent suits were avoided because Google had a new arsenal to fight back with? How many new patents have Moto engineers filed since the purchase? How do we put a dollar value on the hardware expertise that Google picked up in the purchase?

strandev 13y ago

12.5+ billion dollars isn't intangible, even for Google.

treeface 13y ago
He's trying to say that Google paid something tangible for something intangible. It's difficult to estimate the present value of a patent portfolio, ergo it's "intangible".