Analysts concur – Google's $12.5 billion acquisitionof Motorola Mobility makes a lot of sense, but Google risks alienating Android's staunchest allies with the deal.
Ovum analyst Tim Renowden said that as well as bolstering its patent portfolio, the deal “brings Google significantly closer to Ovum’s hypothesis of a “managed device platform” where a vendor controls all aspects of a platform, including hardware, software, content and online services.”
Research firm In-Stat similarly asserted that Google is aiming to address platform fragmentation and gain greater influence over the Android ecosystem.
“By purchasing Motorola Mobility, Google can take control of the platform in a way that just wasn’t possible before,” the firm said in a statement. Its own hardware capabilities could also potentially allow Google to better compete directly against Apple, InStat added.
Gartner research VP Phillip Redman blogged that the deal has “changed the mobile handset market forever, with names like RIM, Nokia and Motorola no longer driving the market, but for the foreseeable future, Apple and Google.”
The benefits of Google's planned purchase don't just extend to Android – InStat points out that Motorola Mobility's set-top-box division will eventually provide opportunities to develop the less-than-successful Google TV venture.
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