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| google motorola mobility - motorola mobility |
Google Inc.'s GOOG-Q $12.5-billion (U.S.) purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. MMI-N brings it valuable assets for the smart-phone wars, but experts say the real winner from the huge acquisition is Microsoft Corp.
Google and Apple have steadily taken smart phone market share from RIM, and in the past year their gains have accelerated. Google has fuelled Android’s meteoric rise by providing the software for free to 39 hardware makers, including Motorola and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., as part of a strategy to maintain the company’s dominance as Web search migrates onto mobile devices.
But as it moves into the hardware, Google risks upsetting its Android-using partners, such as Samsung and HTC Corp., which are direct competitors of Motorola. Those companies could reevaluate their smart phone strategies as a result, slowing Android’s ascent and giving breathing room not just to rival software companies but other device makers such Nokia Corp. and Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM.
The sheer size of the deal has also renewed speculation about other potential takeover targets in the wireless sector, including RIM. While some analysts see Microsoft as a potential buyer, others say RIM is too busy dealing with its current problems to make a likely target.
“Windows seems more relevant today than it did last night,” says Mike Walkley, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity who follows the big mobile device makers. “You already have global [wireless] operators worried about less choice for consumers, and a world dominated by Android and Apple. And now with the founders of Android owning a handset business, that might create even more incentive to support competing [software] ecosystems, such as Windows and potentially BlackBerry.”
Monday’s deal, though centred on Motorola’s vast portfolio of smart phone and wireless patents, comes with other benefits for Google. Motorola has a significant set-top box business, which will help as Google pushes into home entertainment with video products.
Google will also get Motorola’s distribution and brand presence in China, a country where Google has stumbled with censorship issues and tough competition from Chinese language Web search companies. The company now has the chance to more closely integrate the Android software with the smart phone and tablet hardware, a strategy that has worked well for Apple.
But Google has also added some uncertainty to its business with this deal. Though Google CEO Larry Page insisted the Android strategy would remain unchanged, the move has stoked fears that Motorola could be given an unfair advantage over other handset makers as Android evolves. There is also the slight chance that Google could abandon other device makers in the future.
“Google is no longer just a partner, they’re also a competitor because they’ve entered the smart-phone handset business,” says Neil Mawston, the director of London-based Strategy Analytics’ global wireless practice.
“My sense is that Google has weighed up that cost versus benefit scenario, and concluded that the benefit of having a stronger IP [intellectual property] portfolio outweighs the cost of potentially losing some momentum among other Android partners.”
Investors have taken note. Shares of Nokia – which struck a deal to run Windows software on its upcoming smart phones – were up more than 12 per cent in Monday trading on the New York Stock Exchange. RIM was also up almost 10 per cent, on a mix of renewed takeover speculation and news that American wireless carrier Verizon was going to offer a new BlackBerry product. Google was down almost 2 per cent.
“The deal - makes Windows phone a more attractive platform,” said Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research. “I think Google is going to find this extremely challenging.”
By acquiring Motorola and its thousands of patents, Google is trying to insulate itself and its Android mobile-phone software from a wave of intellectual-property lawsuits filed by Apple Inc. and others. But some say the deal also jeopardizes Android’s growth by potentially alienating its hardware partners and boosting the appeal of rival software, such as Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 and Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry system.
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But as it moves into the hardware, Google risks upsetting its Android-using partners, such as Samsung and HTC Corp., which are direct competitors of Motorola. Those companies could reevaluate their smart phone strategies as a result, slowing Android’s ascent and giving breathing room not just to rival software companies but other device makers such Nokia Corp. and Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM.
The sheer size of the deal has also renewed speculation about other potential takeover targets in the wireless sector, including RIM. While some analysts see Microsoft as a potential buyer, others say RIM is too busy dealing with its current problems to make a likely target.
“Windows seems more relevant today than it did last night,” says Mike Walkley, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity who follows the big mobile device makers. “You already have global [wireless] operators worried about less choice for consumers, and a world dominated by Android and Apple. And now with the founders of Android owning a handset business, that might create even more incentive to support competing [software] ecosystems, such as Windows and potentially BlackBerry.”
Monday’s deal, though centred on Motorola’s vast portfolio of smart phone and wireless patents, comes with other benefits for Google. Motorola has a significant set-top box business, which will help as Google pushes into home entertainment with video products.
Google will also get Motorola’s distribution and brand presence in China, a country where Google has stumbled with censorship issues and tough competition from Chinese language Web search companies. The company now has the chance to more closely integrate the Android software with the smart phone and tablet hardware, a strategy that has worked well for Apple.
But Google has also added some uncertainty to its business with this deal. Though Google CEO Larry Page insisted the Android strategy would remain unchanged, the move has stoked fears that Motorola could be given an unfair advantage over other handset makers as Android evolves. There is also the slight chance that Google could abandon other device makers in the future.
“Google is no longer just a partner, they’re also a competitor because they’ve entered the smart-phone handset business,” says Neil Mawston, the director of London-based Strategy Analytics’ global wireless practice.
“My sense is that Google has weighed up that cost versus benefit scenario, and concluded that the benefit of having a stronger IP [intellectual property] portfolio outweighs the cost of potentially losing some momentum among other Android partners.”
Investors have taken note. Shares of Nokia – which struck a deal to run Windows software on its upcoming smart phones – were up more than 12 per cent in Monday trading on the New York Stock Exchange. RIM was also up almost 10 per cent, on a mix of renewed takeover speculation and news that American wireless carrier Verizon was going to offer a new BlackBerry product. Google was down almost 2 per cent.
“The deal - makes Windows phone a more attractive platform,” said Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research. “I think Google is going to find this extremely challenging.”
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