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Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

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Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#251

Post by BvS »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #185
51Cards wrote: post #170

One further thought on the patent portfolio. Don't forget that Motorola is widely considered to have "invented" the first practical cell phone. Their patent portfolio isn't just going to be stuff like "Using shades of gray in a UI". It's going to run deep into what constitutes a mobile device.

Those patents would have been issued in the 70s and long since expired. Even the first generation digital cell phone patents should be mostly expired. I'm not sure how involved Motorola was in the consortiums that developed the 2G/3G/4G standards, but my impression was that they were dominated by the chipset vendors (Qualcomm etc) and the telecom guys (Nortel etc). Of course, there were competing standards, and who p…

When exactly do those kind of patents expire?

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#253

Post by Osiris »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #185
51Cards wrote: post #170

One further thought on the patent portfolio. Don't forget that Motorola is widely considered to have "invented" the first practical cell phone. Their patent portfolio isn't just going to be stuff like "Using shades of gray in a UI". It's going to run deep into what constitutes a mobile device.

Those patents would have been issued in the 70s and long since expired. Even the first generation digital cell phone patents should be mostly expired. I'm not sure how involved Motorola was in the consortiums that developed the 2G/3G/4G standards, but my impression was that they were dominated by the chipset vendors (Qualcomm etc) and the telecom guys (Nortel etc). Of course, there were competing standards, and who p…

The announcement stated that they have 7,000 patents in the pipeline right now, so I would say that Motorola clearly still has a lot of important patents on modern hardware.

I'm also curious to know if the 17,000 patents number includes expired patents or only current, enforceable patents.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#254

Post by mrj »

SkyMarshal wrote: post #246
intended wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GOOG is a s/w company and not a manufacturer. The ability to integrate both sides of such different firms is very difficult. This puts both points b), c) and e) off the table. Point f)? I'm not sure, but I really hope that they can do something while looking at exactly how it will play out on a phone. They did try this with the Nexus though, and that was not something which worked out perfectly imho. M&A's have a ten…

>GOOG is a s/w company and not a manufacturer. Fanboys used to say the same thing about MS when they were working on the first Xbox, and they came out looking pretty silly for it. The first one was a bit clunky, but the second one, especially with Kinect, is gangbusters. Integrating Motorola won't be as big a problem as you make it out for a company as smart and well funded Google.

I'm not sure that's the example I'd use. They sunk billions in the first on for little to show for it. Billions fixing broken xboxes in the second one and only recently have begun to gather some steam -- and even then it was helped by Sony's numerous missteps.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#255

Post by iam »

lurker14 wrote: post #250
ErrantX wrote: post #3

Only part of Motorola, and not generally the part considered the "original". :) Motorola mobility was spun off of the main company in January - I think at the time there was commentary on the stock markets that it was done with the aim to get someone to buy it. So Motorola will exist still - as Motorola Solutions (it is the bigger & more profitable part of the company anyway) and Google get a phone manufacture divisi…

What exactly is "Motorola Mobile" and what is the rest of Motorala? I saw that in the news headline and figured there was going to be a lot of confusion over what actually got bought.

Motorola spun off into Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions. Think of Mobility as the classic consumer oriented Motorola who sells cell phones. Solutions targets enterprise/government.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#256

Post by alex_c »

rbanffy wrote: post #147
MrScruff wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why Google would make much more in Adsense revenue on Android than they would on iOS. I think the primary issue is not conceding control of the platform their revenue is reliant on to a competitor.

> I'm not sure why Google would make much more in Adsense revenue on Android than they would on iOS Aren't iPhone app developers using iAd?

iPhone app developers tend to use a variety of ad networks, based on whatever pays best. iAds usually has the best CPM, but inventory can be limited - and the fallback is usually AdSense (or... AdMob, which is also Google).

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#257

Post by ConstantineXVI »

lurker14 wrote: post #250
ErrantX wrote: post #3

Only part of Motorola, and not generally the part considered the "original". :) Motorola mobility was spun off of the main company in January - I think at the time there was commentary on the stock markets that it was done with the aim to get someone to buy it. So Motorola will exist still - as Motorola Solutions (it is the bigger & more profitable part of the company anyway) and Google get a phone manufacture divisi…

What exactly is "Motorola Mobile" and what is the rest of Motorala? I saw that in the news headline and figured there was going to be a lot of confusion over what actually got bought.

They're roughly broken down as follows:

Moto Mobile: general consumer devices (phones, tablets, GPS nav, DSL/cable modems, IPTV boxes, etc.)

Moto Solutions: enterprise and industrial stuff (2-way radios, RFID, barcode scanners, networking)

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#258

Post by olalonde »

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #189
junkbit wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but Larry said in the call that Moto will have to bid to become the halo device each year on an equal footing

"My son is going to have to bid to get the contract to build the new city building, just like anybody else. He will be on equal footing." I won't believe it until I see a regular pattern of Moto not getting picked. That goes against too much human nature.

Well as far as I know, Google search doesn't tweak its algorithm to rank Google owned websites higher. This alone gives them some credibility...

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#259

Post by iam »

iamben wrote: post #19

From Reuters a few weeks back: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/07/21/us-motorola-idUKTRE... "Billionaire investor Carl Icahn urged Motorola to shop around its patent portfolio to cash in on interest in wireless technology from companies like Google Inc and Apple Inc."

Later down there's a whole section titled "OPPORTUNITY FOR GOOGLE?"

Would've been nice to see that news a few weeks ago, then today's acquisition wouldn't have been so out of the blue.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#260

Post by kenjackson »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #229
SoftwareMaven wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"My son is going to have to bid to get the contract to build the new city building, just like anybody else. He will be on equal footing." I won't believe it until I see a regular pattern of Moto not getting picked. That goes against too much human nature.

It's not his son though, it's a grown man that he legally adopted simply to gain control of some land rights and which he promptly signed over to help build a railway. Google's more likely to throw Motorola under the bus to advance Android than vice versa. Having Android on 80% of all devices is worth it.

The problem is, to get off of the analogy, that Google will be very tempted to design a great iPhone compete device. It's no secret that the iPhone is the best HW/SW integration on the market. For the first time Google can actually build something with no compromises w/ respect to Android.

I think Google's next play will be telling. Will they:

1) Buy a HW design/integration company - ala Intrinsity.

or

2) Spin off Moto Mobility, but keep share all patent rights (so either company could litigate).

If you see them start recruiting for people/companies like Intrinsity, they're going down the Apple route and partners should be worried. If they spin off Moto Mobility (and don't own much of the resulting company) it will show dedication to Android.

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