[IH8Rice]

...the cell phone market?

Google is acquiring the handset division of Motorola, Motorola Mobility, for $12.5 billion. This means Google could soon officially in the hardware business.....

Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business." HTC, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG and the other Android manufacturers must be quaking in their boots today. That said, despite offering 32 phones—21 of which have Android baked in—Nasdaq pegged Motorola with a paltry 3% market share as of the beginning of this year. Not exactly a commanding force. Then again, that was before Google was at the reins....

A blog post on Google's official blog states that part of the attraction for Google was Motorola's generous (17,000) handful of patents

http://gizmodo.com/5830842/

 

[jonKranked]

they've already taken it over chief. Android owns nearly 50% of the worldwide market. They're just getting into hardware now.

 

[IH8Rice]

they've already taken it over chief. Android owns nearly 50% of the worldwide market. They're just getting into hardware now.

they own the software market. and when this gets approved, theyll slowly start to make way into the hardware market

 

[binary visions]

From what I'm reading, it looks like the big G is going to keep the phone division pretty separate and distinct for a while. Gizmodo sat in on an investor's call and Google indicated that the Motorola division would have to bid to build a Nexus branded phone just like any other manufacturer.

I think this is a big patent buy in the short term, and, of course, long term to have a more vertical experience like Apple is enjoying. If it goes well for them, it's going to force all the other handset manufacturers to step up and make sure they're releasing stable software, with value-added features, and keep up with current releases of Android software.

I'm glad it was Motorola. They have the best radios and build quality in the business. It means I may be able to keep my solid Moto phone that gets reception everywhere, even if I want an unlocked bootloader.

 

[jonKranked]

they own the software market. and when this gets approved, theyll slowly start to make way into the hardware market

eh, i think this was more of a move for moto's patent portfolio than anything else. i take it as a sign they're going to get more actively involve against defending against iJobs.


also, samsung is killing it right now. apple is #1 ww, and samsung is only a imllion or 2 units behind, but if sammy's and apples current growth rates continue, samsung will take over #1 by year's end.