Google acquiring Motorola Mobility

[ylexot]

Google acquiring Motorola Mobility -- Engadget

What happens next? While this will of course strengthen the ties between hardware and software, Google is pledging to continue offering Android as an open platform -- Moto will license it and others will be able to as ever. Additionally, Google will continue to operate its new toy as a separate business and not morph it into an in-house hardware wing. But, one has to wonder what this means for companies like Samsung, which partnered closely with Google on the Nexus S, and of course HTC, which released the Nexus One and the iconic G1. And then there's the big question: just where does Moto Blur fit into this equation?

I'm liking where this is going...

 

[Tilted]

Transferred for a separate thread about this development which I had opened (and have now closed):

Google announced this morning that it will be acquiring Motorola Mobility for about $12.5 Billion, which represents a share price for MMI which is about 60% higher than Friday's close (read: if you own Motorola Mobility stock, you just made a good amount of money).

I'm not sure what I think about this move, but my first reaction would be that it's probably good for Google. It has cash to burn and this opens up a new revenue stream that has a strong nexus with something it's already doing. If it can improve Motorola Mobility's performance, this could represent a way to further monetize the popular Android platform. Motorola Mobility's performance of late hasn't been all that great though - it's been losing money. Xoom sales have been disappointing and smart phone sells haven't been spectacular.

It will be interesting to see how other Android-based handset manufacturers respond to this development. If I were, e.g., Samsung, HTC or LG, I don't know that I'd be thrilled with the idea that Google will be getting into the handset manufacturing business in such a big way. All of a sudden the company that controls the platform on which so many of their mobile devices are based, is their competitor with regard to those mobile devices.

 

[Tilted]

I'm not sure I agree with all of these assessments, but some of the concern is probably legitimate.

Google's Bold Bet on Motorola Could Hit Asian Handset Makers

Winners and losers in the Google-Motorola deal

 

[vanbells]

Apple and Google will dominate the smartphone world for household consumers. RIM will always have the corporate world.

 

[Tilted]

This deal finally closed earlier this week. Google had gotten approval from the U.S. and Europe (with a not so subtle warning that Google / Motorola abusing their FRAND patents would not be tolerated) quite a while ago. But they were waiting on approval from the Chinese, which they just recently got.

 

[Tilted]

Apple and Google will dominate the smartphone world for household consumers. RIM will always have the corporate world.

At this point, it's Apple and Samsung that are dominating the smartphone world (while other Android OEMs are being crowded out). And RIM is near dead in the water in North America - with the BYOD push, they're even losing the enterprise market.

 

[EmptyTimCup]

And RIM is near dead in the water in North America - with the BYOD push, they're even losing the enterprise market.

we will BYOD sometime next yr .......... iPhones only [I think]