14 DAY TRIAL // Google's intention of acquiring Motorola, which is pending approval and should be finalized at the end of 2011, early 2012 if things go smoothly, has a lot of implications for Google and for Motorola, of course, but it's also a big move for Android partners, phone makers that rely on the mobile operating system and with which Google will be competing soon.
Google says that there's nothing to worry about, Motorola will be licensing Android and it will continue as an independent subsidiary, but what else is it going to say.
Google says Motorola will remain independent and Android open and free
"This acquisition will not change our commitment to run Android as an open platform. Motorola will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open," Google CEO Larry Page wrote in his announcement of the deal.
"We will run Motorola as a separate business. Many hardware partners have contributed to Android’s success and we look forward to continuing to work with all of them to deliver outstanding user experiences," he insisted.
Even if Google wants to and believes it can run Motorola separately and not favor it in any way with Android, it seems impossible in the practical sense.
Motorola will have several advantages over competitors
There are at least several ways in which Motorola is going to be inherently favored. One obvious example is the Nexus program. Google has been making Google-branded phones, for a few years now, the Nexus One, designed and built by HTC, and the Nexus S, designed and built by Samsung.
The next Nexus is expected to come later this year and will be a flagship device for the upcoming Android Ice Cream Sandwich.
Beyond that, it's unlikely Google will be partnering with other phone makers for its Nexus like of phones when it could simply build it itself. Google has already partnered with Motorola for the XOOM tablet, the flagship tablet with Android Honeycomb.
What's more, now that Google has complete control over devices, it's going to exert that. It's been trying to get phone makers and carriers to issue timely updates for devices ever since Android launched, without too much success.
Now it can tout that its devices are all updated on time and for several years to come, a competitive advantage that other phone makers will have to match.
As a software maker, it must have been frustrating for Google to be at the mercy of hardware makers. Now, it can build the phone it wants to have the exact Android experience it wants. And it will be able to do it across the price range, not just for one flagship phone. The prospect will be too enticing to pass up.
Android partners have two options, neither of which looks good to them
There are two big scenarios for phone makers using Android and neither is going to sound too appealing.
On the one hand, they have Google which has every incentive to make great Android phones and which doesn't even have to make too much money from them. Just like it gives away Android to make money from ads, it can offer cheap phones and make up for the loss elsewhere.
So they'll have to build devices that not only compete with Google's on experience but also on price. Increased competition means increased expenses for all. They also have to make a living from selling phones, which Google doesn't, though it probably wants to.
The second option is to go with Microsoft, the only company left which licenses a smartphone operating system which doesn't make its own phones. Of course, it has a deep and exclusive deal with Nokia and may even decide to buy it altogether. Microsoft Windows Phone also costs money.
The fact that Android is safer, now that Google has a greater bartering power in the patent war, is a bonus, but the downside of the deal for Android phone makers may be greater than its worth for them. And they're certainly worried, regardless of what they're saying publicly.