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ebw on 25 October 2012
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RVDondaPC said:
ebw said:

So, judging by the phrasing, you disagree with labelling Google's purchase a failure?  I would argue that it is a complete and utter failure, business wise.  At the time of the deal the consensus was that the purchase was for the patents, and those patents have proven to be rather worthless in court, certainly not justifying the exorbitant cost.  Others speculated it was for the set-top business, but that's been discontinued.  Motorola's smartphone business is moribund (Samsung is the only one making any profit selling Android phones), so Google's claim that the purchase would "supercharge" the Android market is vastly overblown.  As far as I can tell we haven't seen any business justification that the $12.5 billion will ever pay itself off.  It is tempting to speculate that the high asking price was forced by Motorola's ex-CEO, but did Google really have to spend that much money to eliminate one rogue agent?


You're missing the point. How can you label it a failure so soon? You're basing it all on the initial cost of the transaction. That is the same thing that was done with the XBOX. It cost MS Billions to establish the brand, but now that it is making money and the added value it brings to MS and will continue to bring to MS that is being ignored by you guys.

Google has just barely purchased Motorola. They have said that Motorola products that have been influenced by Google now owning the company wont even hit the market until 2013 holiday season. So what does current profit selling Android phones have to do with anything? They haven't released a Google influenced phone yet to even measure it's success and profitability. Also you don't know what influence Motorola's patent portfolio has had on mobile phone litigation for Goog. It was purchased to prevent Google from being bombarded with lawsuits from all the other mobile players. As of now I don't think there has been any serious lawsuit judgments against Goog that has to do with mobile since they purchased Motorola and they have even filed some lawsuits of their own. That is a much prettier picture than being the punching bag that it was when Android first came out. Goog also isn't even done restructuring Motorola as a company, so just relax before you go labeling something a complete failure. Wait a few years then you can start to make a judgment. It took XBOX about 7 years to make a profit, and it's been a profitable business ever since. 

You're right: it was premature for me to label it a complete failure.  On the litigation front, I think you might have it backwards.  Google was never directly involved in any mobile lawsuits until after they bought Motorola (whereupon they inherited all of Motorola's existing litigation -- as I mentioned Motorola was suing somewhat recklessly).  What they have experienced since then is largely a string of losses in both offensive and defensive cases (Microsoft has been particularly successful here).  Just two weeks ago Microsoft launched a new suit against Google over maps in Motorola phones: this is a fight Google would not have been involved in if they hadn't stepped into the ring.  Google filing new lawsuits isn't really a good thing: their mobile patents are largely standards-essential, and they are now being investigated for not licensing them on fair terms.  It's not clear that Motorola standing alone would have fallen under the same level of scrutiny.