Who says Mondays aren't exciting?
Google has said that it will acquire Motorola Mobility. The company announced the decision via its official Google blog and a press release posted early this morning. Having already garnered the approval of both boards, the deal will see Google acquire the mobile arm of Motorola for $40 per share, or a total of about $12.5 billion, a premium of 63 percent to the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on Friday.
"In 2008, Motorola bet big on Android as the sole operating system across all of its smartphone devices," Google CEO Larry Page said. "It was a smart bet and we’re thrilled at the success they’ve achieved so far. We believe that their mobile business is on an upward trajectory and poised for explosive growth."
Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President of Mobile at Google and commonly referred to as 'the father of Android,' said that while Google expects the acquisition to enable Google to 'break new ground for the Android,' the company's commitment to Android as an open platform has not changed.
"We will continue to work with all of our valued Android partners to develop and distribute innovative Android-powered devices," Rubin said.
Page echoed Rubin's reassurances in a blog post published early this morning:
"This acquisition will not change our commitment to run Android as an open platform," he insisted. "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."
The deal may already have the approval of both the Google and Motorola Mobility boards but it will still be subject to the usual closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals in the US, the EU and other jurisdictions, and the approval of Motorola Mobility’s stockholders. The two expect everything to be signed and seal by the end of next year or early in 2012.
you mean, the end of this year... 2011, remember?
you mean, the end of this year... 2011, remember?
Even a 3rd grader could have figured out what she meant.
I think it's a typo. She must meant "2013" instead.
This is more for their protection from all the patent infringement stuff Apple and friends have sent their way. Motorola owns thousands of patents, and this move by Google makes a whole lot of sense. They're not going to PO their partners by giving Motorola Mobility some preference.
Oooooh. Pulling out the "Even a Xth grader coul" burns, huh? Cool story bro.
(Notice the way I'm pulling out the "Cool story bro" burn to be funny.)
Will Google play fair enough in the months and years to come with their other hardware partners, or will they be too tempted to go to far using their advantage?
How successful Google will be with their hardware business at all?
How will other hardware competitors read Google's new position.
It would be much, much cheaper to simply license those patent. And entering hardware business may bring more patent litigation.
If you look at android manufactures, they are in multiple boats already.
Samsung supplies 40% of the parts for Apple iPhone while selling Androids.
HTC sells Android and Windows phones.
Now, it comes down to which is best and provide choices. HTC is already doing enough to distinguish itself by buying 3 companies in 1 month - 300 million on s3 graphics, 15 million on cloud company and another 600m on audio.
Eventually, Android will be so strong and each manufacturer will provide unique features.
Microsoft will be sidelined in post-pc era because they lost credibility with consumers.
I shall feel great cause I know that I will probably receive updates nearly constantly and hopefully Google will kill moto's motoblur and then I will have a pure android device. Maybe they will even strip out the locked boot loader ^_^
Getting too big for my taste, hands in too many cookie jars..