Motorola Droid Bionic "Targa" XT875 pre-release thread - Part 2

[DroidST]

Well then, this certainly changes the landscape a bit.

Google just acquired Motorola Mobility.

I wouldn't doubt one of the reasons is to obtain Motorola's LTE IP

[bull3964]

I still don't know how it's any different than the way google has operated over the past two years. Google has worked closely with Motorola in the past to no ill effects with their other hardware partners.

Who had the first 2.0 device on the market by a large lead margin in 2009? Motorola. Who had the first Honeycomb device on the market? Motorola.

On the flipside, both HTC and Samsung were made nexus devices.

We'll just have to see how it pans out, but I have a feeling that the likes of HTC and Samsung are FAR happier over this acquisition from a patent protection standpoint than they are scared that Google is going to have a preferred OEM for their OS. Google just got around 17,000 very important patents that reach back to the dawn of mobile communications. That's nothing to sneeze at.

[kbman]

The move away from Qualcomm to develop their own chip looks a good bit more fortuitous now, no doubt.

I think Sanjay comes off looking very good no matter whether his vision conflicts with Google in the future.

[robrecht]

They have still been losing money overall. In 2010 they made a profit, but the IRS left them with a sizable loss. Both quarters of this year have shown losses before and after taxes and other expenses. They probably won't repeat the tragic losses of 2009, but this year is looking to be WAY worse than 2010. A sale to someone was bound to happen if things did not turn SOON. Google is probably the best result as a buyer for those of us that want unlocked phones and stock Android. This may also mean that some things Moto fixes or adapts to new processors and such with Android end up in the AOSP rather than remaining mostly proprietary.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=MMI

I'm finding this quite entertaining as although I am not sure I actually posted a prediction Moto would have to be sold off, I have been thinking this all along as I wrote on how Bionic or some phone in the near future needed to be bigger than OG Droid for them to survive as an independent company. Will be curious to see if Google keep the Motorola brand indefinitely or not. It has a lot of value, but not sure if it or Google and Android would be better in the long haul?

Thanks. I haven't really followed them beyond last year. I figured it was obvious that Mobility was up for sale when it was spun off. Hope Google can save them.

Thanks, Robrecht

[robrecht]

I think Sanjay comes off looking very good no matter whether his vision conflicts with Google in the future.

How so? Just because they were sold before going bankrupt?

Thanks, Robrecht

[kbman]

I think in the near term this vindicates a number of key decisions that he has made and will be seen as culminating in this positive outcome.

I am not a huge fan of his, I am just calling it as i see it here.

[jasaero]

I figure he still has his work cut out for him as I doubt Google will let Moto be a hole they throw money into. What I find interesting is that if Google doesn't want to throw money into the Moto hole they have to either help Sanjay kill his competition who are also Google customers or they have to demand he does some financial restructuring so he doesn't need to have a huge market share to show a profit?? Moto and it's employees would obviously prefer help becoming a dominant Android hardware supplier.

Basically HTC, Samsung, LG, and other Android customers HAVE to be concerned and open to alternatives to Android. Unless Google has promised them a leaner Motorola not too concerned with killing them in the open market just to avoid losses??

[robrecht]

I think in the near term this vindicates a number of key decisions that he has made and will be seen as culminating in this positive outcome.

I am not a huge fan of his, I am just calling it as i see it here.

It was a sincere question as I do not know any details of his career.

Thanks, Robrecht

[FAUguy]

Not to burst everyone's bubble but this is the Bionic Pre-Release Thread, not the Google buys Motorola thread.
Let's try to keep the discussion on-topic.

[jasaero]

Not to burst everyone's bubble but this is the Bionic Pre-Release Thread, not the Google buys Motorola thread.
Let's try to keep the discussion on-topic.

Go Here if interested. We should have probably just created this from the get go.

[ronaldheld]

So, how viable is the Septemberc 8th date?

[Susurro]

I wonder if Sanjay is busy packing his golden parachute or if they will keep him on after the transition...interesting times.

He is staying at least for a little bit. He has said he is saying, but only he knows what he really plans to do.


If you are curious, the guy is completely as smart as he presents himself as (technically at least). Seriously, he knows more than you want to even imagine. He is scary smart.
Of course that leaves financials and market savvy where he isn't as smart.

[Ark6]

Well MS could very well give others deals like Nokia if they promise to marginalize use of Android. Nokia is still a customer of MS rather than a subsidiary. This is great for Motorola, but I am not sure it's great for Android as a whole. You could be correct though as this could play out in a lot of ways. It really depends on how Google plans to use Motorola outside of exploiting their patents. If that's the ONLY thing they plan to do everything is probably fine, but I really figure they will also try to influence their products and do most Nexus phones with them if not all Moto's become some variety of Google branded phones??

1) If MS gives every OEM the deal that they gave Nokia, then it will destroy the 'unified OS' that ms intended. MS gave Nokia that privilege so that they can integrate their expertise (i.e. Ovi maps) to the whole ecosystem. That, and increase WP7 penetration.

2) If anything there will be more nexus devices coming out more often. Think about it, what incentive does Google have to make Moto the exclusive hardware provider? It will also alienate all the manufacturers that made Android a success in the first place if they did a stunt like that.

[Slaughtrr]

He is staying at least for a little bit. He has said he is saying, but only he knows what he really plans to do.


If you are curious, the guy is completely as smart as he presents himself as (technically at least). Seriously, he knows more than you want to even imagine. He is scary smart.
Of course that leaves financials and market savvy where he isn't as smart.

Some of the smartest people also have no common sense.

[Slaughtrr]

Ark I always love to read what you have to say. You're very honest and unbiased but I will have to disagree with your second point. I think there is a huge incentive for Google to stay exclusive to Moto for their Nexus handsets.

I think it gives them a chance to build the brand called Nexus. It will cut down on confusion for the average consumer and it will solidify brand recognition. For instance if I ask you to think of bleach. You probably go right to Clorox. That name and image of the bottle is burned into us. Same thing with the iPhone. You instantly recognize the name and likeness.

Moto/Google have a chance to make the Nexus a recognizable brand name. "Have you seen the new Nexus" will invoke the image of a new Motorola phone rather than a blank stare. The Nexus brand hasn't caught on like I think they thought it would but I think now if they stick to one manufacturer it has that chance.

Right now their is no brand recognition. That's very important with any product. Just my thoughts on the matter.