Facts about Google’s acquisition of Motorola

FAQs

The deal

Why are you acquiring Motorola Mobility?

There are two reasons. For one, innovation. This acquisition will bring Motorola Mobility’s hardware expertise closer to our software expertise -- accelerating innovation. The second reason is to protect the Android ecosystem. Dubious lawsuits are threatening Android and its manufacturing partners. In some cases, litigation is keeping companies from selling competing products. Motorola Mobility’s patent portfolio will act as a deterrent, ensuring Android devices continue to compete with Apple, RIM and other platforms.

Will Motorola be integrated into Google or will it remain a separately operated entity?

We plan to run Motorola as a separately operated business. We want Motorola to focus on what they do best, and for us to stay focused on what we do best.

What happens to Motorola Solutions?

This acquisition doesn’t involve Motorola Solutions, which is a separate company. Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions we split into separate companies in January 2011.

Android and openness

Will Android remain open-source or will Google move toward an Apple-type, vertically integrated model, with software and hardware all under one roof?

Android absolutely will remain open-source. It’s in our interest to have as many Android partners (OEMs) as possible. We don’t want to limit ourselves the way Apple and RIM have.

Google says that with Motorola Mobility, it can innovate faster, but how will these innovations be shared with the rest of the Android community?

Android will remain open-source we’ll continue to make new versions available to all of our partners. It’s in our interest to make sure all hardware partners have the latest versions of Android, so they can continue to build great devices that consumers want to buy.

Can you now start charging for Android?

Charging for Android is not part of Google's business model. We want to encourage the widest possible use of Android and so have never charged for it. Nothing about that will change with the acquisition of Motorola. We will continue to make Android open source and free of charge.

You didn’t make Honeycomb open-source, so isn’t Android becoming more closed?

Honeycomb was designed for devices with larger screen sizes. We had more work to do before we could deliver this version to other device types, including phones. Our upcoming version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, will be made open-source across phones and tablets.

Competition

Will you now favor Motorola Mobility’s handsets, giving them the latest versions of Android before others, providing better functionality, etc.?

No. We will continue working with all our hardware partners and will continue our strategy of working with different lead device manufacturers. We want as many companies building Android devices as possible.

Isn’t this a way for you to link Google search to Android?

This deal has nothing to do with search. Android is an open platform, so hardware makers and carriers can decide which search provider they want to use as their default. And even after that, consumers can change their search settings or install and remove search widgets on their phone.

Patents

How many patents does Motorola have?

Motorola has approximately 24,500 patent assets in total.

What do those patents cover?

Motorola’s patent portfolio relates to a wide range of technology include smartphones and handsets, mobile and telecom standards, video, etc.

How can Motorola Mobility’s patents help ensure competition?

Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies are banding together to attack Android with dubious lawsuits and aggressive licensing demands – as we outlined in this blog post. If Android is hobbled by these suits, there will be a lot less competition in mobile computing, which directly affects the prices consumers pay and the quality of the products they are getting.