Google has recently announced that it has acquired the mobile maker Motorola. This acquisition is valued at $12.5 billion. Google has bought Motorola with an eye towards powering Android. I guess they feel having a mobile manufacturer in their portfolio would make them less reliant on other manufacturers.
Here is a quote from Google’s blog post about the acquisition.
Motorola’s total commitment to Android in mobile devices is one of many reasons that there is a natural fit between our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers everywhere.
What will this mean for competitors?
The problem with Android has been, that it has not managed to get manufacturers with really very successful smart-phones with the exception of Samsung. Also making the phone and the OS, does seem to have obvious profitability. iPhones actually make Apple a lot of money for this reason, that they are not reliant on other manufactures or OS. Owning the complete chain makes sense.
What are your views? Will this be a new chapter in the Android vs iPhone saga? Do drop in your comments.