Google Acquires Motorola Mobility
by Kristian Vättö on August 15, 2011 7:48 AM ESTGoogle has just announced that they will acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (or more commonly known as just Motorola). Google will be paying $40 per share, which means a total of about $12.5 billion. That is 63% more than what was Motorola's closing price on Friday, August 12.
Motorola has been selling Android phones since the late 2009, so the Android platform is familiar for them. Google states that the goal of this acquisition is to enhance the Android platform as a whole in order to provide better user experience. Motorola will remain as an independent business, meaning that the Motorola brand is not going anywhere. Also, Android will remain open for other manufacturers.
It appears that this is Google's try to fight against Apple and iOS. One of Apple's biggest advantages has been the control of both software and hardware. Google has Nexus but the sales have been fairly low, which might indicate that the hardware has not been top notch. Motorola, on the other hand, has been in the hardware business for years, so maybe with Motorola's hardware skills, Google will be able to come up with a revolutionary smartphone.
Source: BusinessWire
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DanNeely - Monday, August 15, 2011 - link
That's Google's stated intent, and they've managed to convince all their major phone partners to publicly endorse the deal; so at least in the medium term I don't think much is going to change.bplewis24 - Monday, August 15, 2011 - link
"This acquisition will not change our commitment to run Android as an open platform. Motorola will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. We will run Motorola as a separate business. Many hardware partners have contributed to Android's success and we look forward to continuing to work with all of them to deliver outstanding user experiences."Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20092367-264/goo...
steven75 - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - link
http://android-press-release.com/dagamer34 - Monday, August 15, 2011 - link
Considering Google makes the most money from having the operating system on EVERY phone possible, it's not in their best interest to keep others out or to give them subpar versions of Android.On the other hand, it's pretty obvious who is going to be designing Nexus-branded hardware from now on.
steven75 - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - link
Yep. And they even made this handy web page for their "partners" to provide a comment on the situation.http://android-press-release.com/
kanabalize - Monday, August 15, 2011 - link
remember dont be evil or something...Pessimism - Monday, August 15, 2011 - link
I will be happy if they lose:-Locked and encrypted bootloaders
-Motoblur
Keep:
-Wide range of android QWERTY devices. Moto is one of the only makers who is taking a good shot at doing these.
damianrobertjones - Monday, August 15, 2011 - link
I hope that Google doesn't suddenly wall in Android to only appearing on Motorola kit which would damage the sales of HTC! Things are hotting up :)rupaniii - Monday, August 15, 2011 - link
So, Google has patents they need now.Also, they can create a true reference platform for everyone to shoot for.
This isn't such a problem. Best Buy sells it's own housebrand PC's and TV's, they don't dominate the market.
Microsoft makes hardware, but Logitech is still a better brand, and in truth, Microsoft basically now makes cell phones. If you think the Nokia buyout isn't going to happen, your crazy.
Mobile is the new Game System war. Tablets and Cell Phone's are the new profit centers and everyone's buying in. Good job in not getting left behind in Mobile. Losing Social's not such a big deal, FB wont' rule the world forever just as MySpace didn't. Mobile's going to be here pretty much forever, so, yeah, this was a perfect move.