Idle Thoughts

When Google bought Motorola, I wrote about the possible options that Google had. There is some news this week throwing some light on what path Google is finally taking. According to Bloomberg, Google is to sell off the Set Top Box business. At the time when Google bought Motorola, Google's TV business still held a promise. Many even speculated that this business was one of key reasons why the acquisition was done. Times have changed since then and many will not be surprised about this Bloomberg news today.

Why is Google buying Motorola Mobility? Interesting question! A more relevant question – what will Google do with Motorola once they buy it? Given below are some of Google’s options. The assumption is that Google is most interested in Motorola’s patents and least interested in their Cable business. This assumption eliminated some of the combinations from the options. Option 1: Keep the patents, keep the operations – phone as well as cable. This option offers multiple advantages for Google: it will help Google get the protection of the patents, Google can attempt to achieve the same advantage that Apple has achieved through tight integration of the phone hardware and software. This option might help Google in their TV battle through Motorola’s existing installed base and partnerships. But there are many questions here. Is Google interested in the tightly integrated model? In fact, Google’s press statement says that it will keep the Moto phone division at an arm’s length f...