Google Buys Motorola Mobility for US$12.5 Billion

Patents patents patents.

I've owned some Motorola stock for a long time and 63 percent premium to Friday's price really makes my day.

I see a huge culture gap - culture clash in this, the clash between Schaumburg Il and Mountain View CA, between the company that does research and bits, and the company that builds and markets consumer products.

Going to be interesting to watch, that's for sure!

I was listening to the business review on the radio and they were speculating on what this action meant for Microsoft. They indicated that Microsoft might want to get diectly involved in the mobile market and that RiM and the BlackBerry could be their target. RiM was a pioneer in the smartphone industry and holds a fairly large portfolio of valuable patents. Once a dominating force, RiM has lagged behind Apple and Motorola and an infusion of "innovation" (not money) would be extremely beneficial.

The next few months could be VERY interesting.

this new synergy will result in better-performing products!

Google: We Bought Motorola To "Protect" The Android Ecosystem

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/live-google-and-motorola-expl...

Look out Apple, Google has it's shotgun loaded.

Google will keep the patents, license them back to Motorola, and sell the company. This acquisition doubles the number of Google employees and drops the revenue/employee number quite a bit, so I can see how they might want to sell it after they get Android totally infused into it.

made me a few bucks lol

Um Ya think?

While Google wants to build its own devices to compete with the iPhone, it also wants control of Motorola's 17,000 patents to protect itself against patent infringement claims.

Competing software and handset makers may think they also need to bolster their patent arsenals, analysts said, because successful lawsuits can lead to huge damage awards and court orders halting sales of infringing devices.

"We could see more consolidation out of this, whether it's for patents or technology," said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee. The companies are "trying to position themselves for the next 10 years, and they want to make sure their businesses are not disrupted."

RiM once-dominant BlackBerrys have been losing their grip on the global smartphone market for several years. The company's share of global sales fell to 12% in the second quarter from 19% a year earlier, according to research firm Gartner Inc. That's well behind Google's Android operating system, with 43% of the market, and Apple's iOS-powered iPhone, with 18%.

Read the whole L.A. Times article:

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/17/business/la-fi-googl...