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Will Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility benefit the Android "ecosystem?"
Google has announced Monday morning plans to acquire Motorola Mobility in an unusual move for $12.5 billion.
Though Motorola is one of many handset manufacturers that use Google’s Android operating platform, acquiring a hardware company is an unusual move for the search engine (and now internet) giant. Google claimed in a statement that the acquisition will “enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem.”
Along with the company Google will also be acquiring Motorola’s vast library of nearly twenty thousand patents (17,000 issued worldwide and another 7,500 in progress) helping to “protect the Android ecosystem” from lawsuits. Software giant Microsoft demanded last month that Samsung Electronics Co Ltd pay a $15 royalty fee for each Android powered phone the company shipped as Microsoft has ownership of a wide range of patents used in the platform. The acquisition of such a large patent library could help protect Google, its mobile platform and companies that utilize it from further court action in the future.
Motorola's handsets such as the original "DROID" have helped drive the platform's popularity
The acquisition also paves the way for a realm of opportunity for Android and other Google products as well. Though some speculate Google is unlikely to hold onto the manufacturing and hardware branches of Motorola (just retain the software engineering team) Google can utilize Motorola to develop a new breed of Android smart phones where the software is tightly integrated with the hardware like Macs for example. Right now the operating system is fragmented over dozens of devices meaning there is a separate build of Android for each of these and each build is designed to use the hardware, not utilize it. Google can not only introduce a new wave of phones in which the operating system will function optimally with the device but also create new standards that will make it easier for manufacturers to update the OS for individual phones and save developers from having to ensure compatibility with every device.
Coming Up: “TechNight” discusses the merger this weekend. Saturday 12am/9pm et on SmithtownRadio.com!
Google can also utilize Motorola to distribute their “Google TV” service in set top boxes.
While the acquisition seems like a positive for Google there is also plenty of negative speculation to go along with it. Some believe Google will alienate other brands that use Android and retain exclusive, more robust versions of the operating system for their own phones. Some fear Google may just stop supporting other manufacturers from using new versions of the platform entirely after the company released the tablet-optimized variant as closed-source in March.
Standards and Poor (S&P) has also downgraded Google’s stock after the acquisition believing the purchase of Motorola Mobility was a bad move for the company. S&P Scott Kessler claimed in a statement that S&P believes “the purchase of MMI would negatively impact GOOG’s growth, margins and balance sheet”. Google’s stock has plummeted 18.3% since the announcement on Monday, closing at $504.88 Thursday.
Sound-off: How do you feel about Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility? Is this a good move from the company? What direction do you think Google will take with its new division and what does this mean for Android and the future of Google products? Share your opinions with us and the community below!
