Must Read: Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet: Beating the iPad mini (review)

Topic: Google

Google's coalition speaks with one voice

Summary: This morning, Google announced its plans to acquire Motorola Mobility. It also published statements of support from four key mobile partners who are also Motorola competitors. It's remarkable how much those statements sound alike. See for yourself.

Ed Bott

By for The Ed Bott Report |

I was as stunned as anyone by this morning's news that Google plans to buy Motorola Mobility for some $12.5 billion.

My first reaction, on Twitter, was this:

It took a couple hours, but eventually the partners spoke, and Google published their statements in full. You'll notice immediately that each statement is strikingly similar to the others. This reformat really brings out the similarities, don't you think?

"Committed to defending Android and its partners"? With this merger, Google will presumably become the new lead defendant in Microsoft's patent infringement case against Motorola. (In fact, Microsoft and Google have already mixed it up directly in this lawsuit, accusations flying in both directions as recently as last week.) And there's an Apple lawsuit against Motorola in Europe.

A vigorous defense and a favorable outcome in those cases would be comforting to the other partners. But I suspect this coordinated wording means Google has agreed to intervene in those other suits as well. Have they gone so far as to indemnify Samsung, Sony Ericsson, HTC, and LG in the many legal actions brought against them for Android-related activities?

Topics: Google, Mobility, Security, Telcos, Wi-Fi

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Talkback

29 comments
Log in or register to join the discussion

  • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

    of course Google will defend his partners, unlike the Axes of Evil that steals partners code and include it in its own OS and than dump the partners ...
    AdnanPirota
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

      @AdnanPirota ... "steals partners code and include it in its own OS and than dump the partners." ... what? Like Google did to Oracle re Java?
      bitcrazed
      Reply Vote

    • Anyway, this will not help to defend Android from Apple and its multi-touch

      @AdnanPirota: ... GUI/gestures patents.
      DDERSSS
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

    It?s not a ?happy? reaction. Google is now openly mocking the so called ?Open Handset Alliance? buy pulling down its pants and showing the back.
    Do the hardware vendors trust Google? The answer is a resounding NO. They may hang around for a while until they find a profitable platform, most likely WP7. Does this acquisition solve all of androids patent issues? The answer is again a NO. Microsoft and Oracle will chase it with full force. Also for MS it?s fundamental for its future product success that it has to prove in court that android violates its patents. The chances are more that android will fall off from the cliff pretty soon.
    owlnet
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

      @owlnet They're openly mocking you, who said, "2015 Android won't exist, mark my words"!

      Of course this scares you because you've been openly touting your faith in Apple to beat up on an unarmed man and it turns out that unarmed man had a sword in his cane!
      slickjim
      Reply Vote

  • But is that voice strongly positive or just luke-warm?

    Google would have informed its Android hardware partners of this move weeks, if not months ago. That left those partners a long time to come up with positive comments on it.

    That's not the real question, though. Do those statements represent strong enthusiasm for the acquisition, or are they just formal statements that they felt compelled to make? My vote is on the latter.

    The Motorola Mobility acquistion represents the balance between one hugely positive thing (patents) for Google and another hugely negative thing (long-term competition with its own customers, the mobile hardware manufacturers).

    Google obviously felt the overall balance was in its favour, as judging by the fact that they paid a 63% premium over market price for the patents.

    The marketplace has their own, immediate, short-term judgement. Today's large spike in Nokia's stock price (and the smaller jump in Microsoft's) suggest that they think the deal on balance is not a good one for Google. (Of course, I would be the last one to suggest that the stock market is any good at judging things.)
    easson
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

      @easson Think about it, HTC was found infringing and they remained quite about Google... Samsung has an injunction slapped on them and they never once called out Google...

      Doesn't this sound like two companies who know Google was working on some stuff?

      Oh and Google was pretty Silent themselves leading up to this.
      slickjim
      Reply Vote

    • "positive or luke-warm?" Are you kidding?

      @easson Clearly they're just repeating what Google told them to say. All four statements are essentially identical. They could have just issued a single joint-statement with all four signatures.

      These guys know they've just been screwed, but they're going to play along until they're sure just how badly they've been shafted.
      matthew_maurice
      Reply Vote

  • Message has been deleted.

    microsoftisaboatonfirewithaholeinit.
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

      @microsoftisaboatonfirewithaholeinit ... LOL!
      GoodThings2Life
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

      @microsoftisaboatonfirewithaholeinit.

      Apple's definition of a partner...

      Partner - One from whom you steal code, money and ideas that you then patent yourself.
      slickjim
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

    sounds like they all reading from the same script... well only time will tell because buying up moto patents does nothing about apple and MS patents which have been infringed upon
    taabello@...
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

      @taabello@... And what if this turns out to be a coalition like the Nortel and Novell case? Of course the FTC might object as the others are pretty big already and adding Moto to their group could be seen as a problem.
      slickjim
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

    Yeah, Ed, it's your job to put a spin on it.<br><br>PS. Yes the partners were mad. <br>But they were already mad. Not the ones you think. Clue. The ones that wanted them to bid on Nortel's patents with them. Give up?
    Return_of_the_jedi
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

      @Return_of_the_jedi It was Novell, they never invited them to the Nortel bids.
      slickjim
      Reply Vote

    • Speaking of spinning

      @Return_of_the_jedi

      you know what I mean. :)
      William Farrell
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

    ...if you ever have dealed with Asian companies, you will know that those polite statements are nothing more than polite statements. It's the polite Asian way to say "F*ck You"... Those "partners" even didn't bother to write their own statements. This is very bad actually. They are either totally pissed or don't care.....
    TheCat123
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

      @TheCat123 Companies look out for their interests, If they thought anything of this they would have said something. Did you forget about Samsung's CEO making very candid statements at the launch of the iPad 2?
      slickjim
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

      @TheCat123 You are right about the Asians being that way. It could easily be a veiled insult. But, then again do you really think those big CEOs would jeopardize their company's well being if they knew that people KNOW that already?

      They aren't top dogs at their company for no reason at all, especially considering that politics at their companies probably makes politics at American companies look like child's play.
      ZazieLavender
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Google's coalition speaks with one voice

    We will see how long HTC, Samsung, and LG stay partners with Google. They are taking a very minimal approach to congratulating Google. In the end this is only going to hurt the oems.
    LoverockDavidson
    Reply Vote
CNET Join | Log In | Privacy | Cookies Close