Google has just bought Motorola Mobility for 12.5 Billion dollars. Motorola Mobility was launched early 2011 as a standalone company focusing on mobile devices, particularly smartphones and tablets. With this development, Google has put itself on equal footing with Apple, HP and RIM who make both the hardware and the software pertaining to their devices.
Larry Page, CEO of Google, said, “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.”
One big question for many of the Google Android device makers like Samsung, LG and HTC is how their relationship with Google/Motorola Mobility will evolve going forward. What advantage will Google phones built and designed in-house have over these other companies' models.
One likely scenario is that companies like Samsung, LG and HTC will double their commitment to competing mobile OS Windows Phone which they already build devices for.
Although, on Larry Page's Google + page, he quoted various supportive comments from many of these companies which we are listing below.
Quotes from Android partners
“We welcome today’s news, which demonstrates Google’s deep commitment to defending Android, its partners, and the ecosystem.”
– J.K. Shin
President, Samsung, Mobile Communications Division
“I welcome Google‘s commitment to defending Android and its partners.”
– Bert Nordberg
President & CEO, Sony Ericsson
“We welcome the news of today‘s acquisition, which demonstrates that Google is deeply committed to defending Android, its partners, and the entire ecosystem.”
– Peter Chou
CEO, HTC Corp.
“We welcome Google‘s commitment to defending Android and its partners.”
– Jong-Seok Park, Ph.D
President & CEO, LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company"
--Source, Google CEO Larry Page's Google + page
Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, said, “This transaction offers significant value for Motorola Mobility’s stockholders and provides compelling new opportunities for our employees, customers, and partners around the world. We have shared a productive partnership with Google to advance the Android platform, and now through this combination we will be able to do even more to innovate and deliver outstanding mobility solutions across our mobile devices and home businesses.”
Buying Motorola Mobility, Google now secures a number of cellular, wireless and data network focused patents that will strengthen it in its competition. Google was set to buy Nortel's patents last month but lost out to a consortion composed of Apple, Microsost, RIM and others.