While Verizon didn’t flat-out advocate the proposed Googorola deal, the company was the first U.S. carrier to comment on the merger, saying it welcomed the possibility that these patent disputes might calm down, reports the Wall Street Journal. Apple and others have been on a war path lately, aiming to dismantle Android by attacking major Android OEMs like HTC and Samsung. With Motorola’s 24,000-strong patent trove in its arsenal, Android will be much less vulnerable to litigation.
“We will be looking with interest as further details of the proposed transaction become clear,” said Verizon’s SVP and deputy general counsel John Thorne. “But, at first glance, to the extent that this deal might bring some stability to the ongoing patent disputes, that would be a welcome development.”
Welcome, indeed. Verizon carries and sells more Android devices than any other U.S. carrier with 41 percent of Android phones coming from its stores — a tactic stemming from the iPhone’s four-year exclusivity at AT&T. If the Motoogle deal goes through, Google will take control of 30 percent of the hardware running its platform. That means it will be able to better control and improve Android. In the words of my editor Greg, “by buying Motorola, Google can do whatever the heck they want with Android,” including killing off OEM UIs (and/or making them much better), and ending platform fragmentation a la bullying.
That post goes into more detail, so I won’t be redundant. The point is that Android will become much stronger, and thus, Verizon will account for the majority of handsets running a platform with no where to go but up. Whether explicit or not, I think Verizon likes the sound of that.
Google provides search and advertising services, which together aim to organize and monetize the world’s information. In addition to its dominant search engine, it offers a plethora of online tools and platforms including: Gmail, Maps, YouTube, and Google+, the company’s extension into the social space. Most of its Web-based products are free, funded by Google’s highly integrated online advertising platforms AdWords and AdSense. Google promotes the idea that advertising should be highly targeted and relevant to users thus providing...
Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MSI) is a data communications and telecommunications equipment provider that succeeded Motorola Inc. following the spin-off of the mobile phones division into Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. in 2011. The company is headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. Motorola Solutions is composed of the Enterprise Mobility Solutions division of the former Motorola, Inc. Motorola Solutions also previously had a Networks division, which it sold to Nokia Siemens Networks in a transaction that was completed on April...
Verizon Communications Inc. delivers broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America’s largest wireless network that serves nearly 102 million customers nationwide. Verizon’s Wireline operations include Verizon Business and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers converged communications, information and entertainment services over Verizon’s fiber-optic network.
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