Google buys motorola mobile business

din155 · 08-15-2011, 09:24 AM

Here is the news link
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e906bedc-c...44feabdc0.html
Another
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14530543

It’s in direct completion with Apple and to some extent Goggle’s own partners in android and chrome. Seems they desperately want to be in the hardware business after android and chrome. Came out of nowhere.

din

RockdaMan · 08-15-2011, 10:15 AM

Commentary from twitter:

Google just spent over $12 billion to prop up a software stack that they give away. Now that's what I call business model innovation.
@asymco

One key fact to remember: having lots of patents doesn't give a free pass from all infringement.
@Jkendrick

No one has ever successfully licensed a platform *and* competed with licensees at the same time. Apple tried it (twice) as did Palm & Nokia
@gartenberg

kjk · 08-15-2011, 10:17 AM

Wonder what the other Android partners are thinking right now.

RockdaMan · 08-15-2011, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Google Chief Executive Larry Page said on a conference call today that Motorola will be run as a separate unit of the company, and reiterated the company's commitment to keeping Android open. But he declined to get into the specific dynamics of how Motorola would compete with other Android vendors such as Samsung, HTC or LG Electronics.
Instead, Google focused a lot on the protection it will gain from the deal.

Cnet.com

RockdaMan · 08-15-2011, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Google would now be in the position to build totally integrated Android devices, designing all the hardware and software and marketing. This is one of the reasons Apple devices are so well-rounded, so it could mean better Android devices and stronger competition for Apple going forward.
Google would finally have a real business model for Android! Instead of just giving everything away for free for a cut of advertising revenue, Google is now in the position to bring in hundreds of dollars of revenue and profit per smartphone sold, the way other companies do.

Splatf.com

din155 · 08-15-2011, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

@asymco
One key fact to remember: having lots of patents doesn't give a free pass from all infringement.

But it gives protection from many patent Trolls.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

@Jkendrick
No one has ever successfully licensed a platform *and* competed with licensees at the same time. Apple tried it (twice) as did Palm & Nokia

This could be right but there is always the first time. Especially if google learnt something from the dismal nexus experiment.

din

RockdaMan · 08-15-2011, 12:21 PM

#Apple spends $4.5B with others: anti-competitive. #Google spends $12.5B alone: fostering innovation. OK, I got it now. :/
YoruFukurou - 8/15/11 10:24 AM
@treestman

Dave_S · 08-15-2011, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

#Apple spends $4.5B ..........

As soon as I saw this news, I knew that Apple's local spin doctor would be out ambulance chasing in the biggest way possible.

I imagine that Sanjay Jha is probably out shopping for a medium sized country to buy.

Kali Yuga · 08-15-2011, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Commentary from twitter...

Please stick to your own opinions, there is really no need to quote from Twitter. Anyone who is interested in that should already know how to find relevant comments.

Graham · 08-15-2011, 01:02 PM

Let's not forget that the $12B is not just for a bunch of patents. There's hope that the company itself will turn a profit.

Graham

RockdaMan · 08-15-2011, 01:30 PM

My opinion (ahem) is that this is boom or bust.

I think Googles new, young CEO is going to need all the help he can get.

Quote:

Hardware sales are a brutally competitive business, with a core competency entirely different from Google's. Hardware manufacturing and sales are about supply chains, parts, factories, physical distribution, and consumer marketing--all things that Google has little or no experience with. And Motorola itself is not exactly knocking the cover off the ball these days in all these areas.

Additionally, Google just added 19,000 new employees. 19,000! Google itself only has 29,000. Google just increased the size of itself by 60%--in a company in which culture is crucial. Does Google really have the management in place to manage that?

http://www.businessinsider.com/googl...#ixzz1V7U2Zjgc

Andrew H. · 08-15-2011, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

No one has ever successfully licensed a platform *and* competed with licensees at the same time. Apple tried it (twice) as did Palm & Nokia
@gartenberg

I suppose it depends on your definition of "platform"... but JVC licensed VHS technology *and* competed with licensees. I think that this is pretty comparable to what Google is trying to do, particularly as Android is (more or less) an open standard. As was VHS; Palm and Apple were not.

Note, too, that when Palm and Apple were both hardware companies whose products were successful because of their OSes. People wanted a Palm Pilot because of the OS in the same way that people wanted a mac for *its* OS (the mac clones were in Apple's pre-industrial design days). When other companies could get the same software on other hardware, Apple and Palm could no longer charge a premium for their hardware. This danger doesn't really apply to Google, nor did it apply to JVC.

Having said that, hardware is different from software, and Google is undertaking a risky project.

Ankh · 08-15-2011, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

My opinion (ahem) is that this is boom or bust.

All I see is Google purchasing a big stick to discipline the hardware branch of the ecosystem. There will be a proper Android device available, so everybody else who is dreaming of his own app store, customer lock-in, and crappy upgrade policies should think twice.

If I was HTC I would not loose any sleep over this.

Penforhire · 08-15-2011, 02:13 PM

It all depends on what they do with it. If Google rolls out a lot of new phone hardware their partners will fade away to other platforms. Not as if HTC can't make phones for WP7. I do think the big winner from this move is Microsoft.

Kali Yuga · 08-15-2011, 02:20 PM

Google has gone into non-core businesses for years now. They really have to do something to diversify their income, since most of their revenues are from ads:

Since Jobs is still hoping to spit on Brin and Page's graves, Google has to get as much security in the mobile and tablet space as possible. Going vertical like this might be their best option, even if they sow some fear and discontent into other hardware manufacturers in the process.

08-15-2011, 09:24 AM	#1
din155 Guru Posts: 880 Karma: 7556602 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: UK Device: Kindle PW, Win 10 thinkpad 8in	Google buys motorola mobile business Here is the news link http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e906bedc-c...44feabdc0.html Another http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14530543 It’s in direct completion with Apple and to some extent Goggle’s own partners in android and chrome. Seems they desperately want to be in the hardware business after android and chrome. Came out of nowhere. din

08-15-2011, 10:15 AM	#2
RockdaMan Banned Posts: 1,644 Karma: 213512 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: On the other side of over there Device: Pandigital Novel, Kindle G1 (broken), iPod Touch	Commentary from twitter: Google just spent over $12 billion to prop up a software stack that they give away. Now that's what I call business model innovation. @asymco One key fact to remember: having lots of patents doesn't give a free pass from all infringement. @Jkendrick No one has ever successfully licensed a platform and competed with licensees at the same time. Apple tried it (twice) as did Palm & Nokia @gartenberg Last edited by RockdaMan; 08-15-2011 at 01:31 PM.

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08-15-2011, 10:17 AM	#3
kjk . Posts: 3,408 Karma: 5647231 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: never enough	Wonder what the other Android partners are thinking right now.

08-15-2011, 12:21 PM	#7
RockdaMan Banned Posts: 1,644 Karma: 213512 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: On the other side of over there Device: Pandigital Novel, Kindle G1 (broken), iPod Touch	#Apple spends $4.5B with others: anti-competitive. #Google spends $12.5B alone: fostering innovation. OK, I got it now. :/ YoruFukurou - 8/15/11 10:24 AM @treestman

08-15-2011, 01:02 PM	#10
Graham Wizard Posts: 2,742 Karma: 32912427 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: North Yorkshire, UK Device: Kobo H20, Pixel 2, Samsung Chromebook Plus	Let's not forget that the $12B is not just for a bunch of patents. There's hope that the company itself will turn a profit. Graham

08-15-2011, 02:13 PM	#14
Penforhire Wizard Posts: 2,230 Karma: 7145404 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern California Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+	It all depends on what they do with it. If Google rolls out a lot of new phone hardware their partners will fade away to other platforms. Not as if HTC can't make phones for WP7. I do think the big winner from this move is Microsoft.

08-15-2011, 02:20 PM	#15
Kali Yuga Professional Contrarian Posts: 2,045 Karma: 3289631 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Kindle 4 No Touchie	Google has gone into non-core businesses for years now. They really have to do something to diversify their income, since most of their revenues are from ads: Since Jobs is still hoping to spit on Brin and Page's graves, Google has to get as much security in the mobile and tablet space as possible. Going vertical like this might be their best option, even if they sow some fear and discontent into other hardware manufacturers in the process.