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Search giant Google dropped a massive news-bomb on us this afternoon — it’s bought Motorola Mobility, the part of Motorola that makes phones and tablets, in a £7.6bn deal. But what’s the reaction to the news, and what does it mean?
Patent spending
There’s strong feeling that the main motivation for the purchase is so Google can own all Motorola’s patents, to use against companies such as Apple and Microsoft, which Google says are ganging up to strangle Android.
On our Facebook page, Michael Bond says, “I bet Apple and Microsoft are going to regret attack Microsoft [we think he means attacking Motorola] as Motorola Mobility must have a metric ton of serious mobile related patents that they could use as a serious smackdown on them.”
“Google just got a bigger gun in the patent war,” Bradley Jewitt writes, “maybe Apple will stop dealing out so many lawsuits.”
Google working with Motorola could upset other manufacturers who build Android devices, like LG and Samsung. Jérry Evàns Øde taps into that undercurrent of unease, saying, “Now Google is going into phone manufacturing. Samsung and HTC must be saying WT…?”
Josh Halliday says in the Guardian that Google’s move is a wise one. “[Google CEO Larry]Page is a genius mathematician, and spending $12.5bn — in cash, no less — on more than 17,000 mobile patents… must have been an appealing transaction.”
Rupert Goodwins, beneficent leader of our sister site ZDNetUK, notes that Motorola’s patents are extremely valuable, as it’s one of the companies that developed mobile phones from scratch, way back when, and so owns a “huge chunk of mobile phone intellectual properties”.
“That’s what Google’s bought: an entire nuclear arsenal to defend Android,” says Rupert.
Droid devotees
Depending on how you look at the news, Google acquiring Motorola is either an indication that companies such as Apple and Microsoft are troubling Android, or a sign that Android is about to become stronger than ever.
One anonymous commenter posts, “The Android will Squish the Apple into Cider.” Nissan Karki simply comments, “sweeet!” Another eloquently writes, “Stick that up yer bum, Steve Jobs!”
Shot in the arm
Dominic Sunnebo of Kantar Worldpanel ComTech sees the news as a shot in the arm for Motorola. “In the US, Motorola’s share has been edging down, with increasingly strong competition from HTC, Samsung and, more recently, Asian-based OEMs such as ZTE.”
The idea that Motorola was in need of rescue is a sentiment echoed by Facebook fan Alistair ‘sketch’ Bendall, who says, “Finally Motorola might release a decent phone?”
There’s still time to hit us with your own opinions, comments and whatnot — let fly below this post, or on our Facebook wall.
