Pages

Aug 15, 2011

Google buys Motorola Mobility

Happy Monday to you, and happy Monday to Motorola Mobility, which Google has announced is about to become its next acquisition. This comes hot on the heels of a $56 million Q2 net loss for Moto -- and CEO Sanjay Jha's less than subtle hints about going fishing for Android-related patent royalties. Now, at a price of $40 per share for a total of about $12.5 billion, Big G will be making Moto a "dedicated Android partner" to "supercharge the Android ecosystem" and "enhance competition in mobile computing."

Larry Page had this to say about the deal:

Motorola Mobility's total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.
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 Oneand the iconic G1. And then there's the big question: just where does Moto Blur fit into this equation?

Peter Chou, CEO, HTC:
We welcome the news of today's acquisition, which demonstrates that Google is deeply committed to defending Android, its partners, and the entire ecosystem.
Bert Nordberg, President & CEO, Sony Ericsson:
I welcome Google's commitment to defending Android and its partners.
Jong-Seok Park, President & CEO, LG:
We welcome Google's commitment to defending Android and its partners.
 

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, nice change!

Godotofwar said...

In other news, motorola tablets will now all use android...

Magazinci said...

Bad news for Apple Inc.

Anonymous said...

this should mean good news for motorola shareholders

Sub Radar (Mike) said...

And so Skynet begins to assemble itself...

Unknown said...

If they start making better phones & tablets I'm all for it.

Anonymous said...

Maybe this will reduce software compatability issues, I think it should lead to some better competition for apple at least.

m.u.f.c

Lemur said...

great change and interesting blog!!

Jay said...

I wished I bought that stock.

Amber said...

I have a motorola, with moto blur and I have to say its not as useful as they make it out to be. I use mostly Facebook so the cross site integration doesn't do me much good. I do like having each persons entire updates and news in one place, but don't use it often enough to miss it. I love that Google is protecting Android and cant wait to see what they do next!

Athanasian Complexio said...

I'm glad the higher ups at google are douche bags or I'd be scared about them buying everything.