It has been just few minutes since the news has been broken that Google has decided to acquire Motorola Mobility for 12.5 Billion $.
Why this acquisation makes so much sense ?
1) Motorola Mobility has 24500 patents awarded and pending. Such a huge patent portfolio and mainly related to telecommunication and phones will help Google defend its turf and protect Android OEM‘s from patent litigations by the cabal of Apple , Microsoft , Sony and RIM. Read the press declaration when Motorola Mobility was found as an independent company which tells this patent count here
2) Motorola Mobility has some very very crucial patents which can help Google take aim at Microsoft X-Box. Microsoft has already sued Motorola ( you are reading right, keep reading) for overcharging royalties for Motorola’s system critical patents being used by it in X-BOX. Everyone saw how HTC was paying Microsoft $15 for every Android handset hold but Motorola was not. Such is the strength of these X box related patents. Read more about them here and here
3) Google can now address the issue of fragmentation in the Android market by providing the much needed base standard phones for the app developers.
4) Motorola has a huge sales network and has experience in producing low cost phones. Google can leverage this and enter the low cost phone market to enter the market territory still uncharted. This factor is being discounted by many but Google knows the real market lies in the sub 100$ phones which are used in Asia , Latin America and Africa. Google has got a brand new solid vehicle to enter these markets.
5) Google can now control the end to end user experience for Android and prove the capabilities of Android to be the genuine iOS competitor. The kind of commitment from Google would ensure other OEM that Google is really serious about Android and would not leave them hanging in between. As Google guys have promised, Android will continue to be open and all partner OEM will be able a new realm of user experience.
6) In line with Google announcements in Google I/O about having Android on all household devices, Motorola experience will be invaluable input. Motorola has strong history of communication devices and can help Google kick start the process without waiting for partners to match Google’s agility and pace.
7) Motorola having deep interests in set-top boxes and modems is a perfect fit for the sagging Google TV venture which has left Logitech bleeding badly. Google realizes in order to make Google TV success it has to come to the field itself. Providing content and software is not enough to take on the competitors in the TV space
Why other OEM don’t need to worry about this acquisition ?
1. Samsung, HTC and Acer have a lot of investment done in the Android ecosystem. All of them might chose to work with Windows 7 platform as well but there doesn’t seem to
2. Now Google is more equipped to safegaurd their Android Vendors against patent lawsuits and ensure all the OEM that their interests will be protected.
3. Google doesn’t gain anything by alienating their Android partners else they all might move to be Windows only OEM like Nokia. The more partners they have more markets Google has for its core businesses. Google has more interest in keeping the vendors on board Android lest the party be spoiled.
Update at 11:04 PM SGT – Google got top 5 Android OEM into confidence before announcing the deal. Read their reactions here
Next in Series: What will happen next in the Phone wars !!!
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