Google Officially Owns Motorola Mobility, Names New CEO

News
By Jane McEntegart
published

Hello, Moto!

Google today announced that its purchase of Motorola Mobility has finally gone through. The search giant announced way back in August of last year that it planned to acquire the mobile arm of Motorola for $40 per share. The deal amounted to $12.5 billion and had already been approved by both boards but had yet get regulatory approvals in the U.S., the EU and other jurisdictions.

Today all of that changed. Having received the go ahead from the United States, Europe, and China, Google announced that the deal had closed, with Google acquiring MMI for $40.00 per share in cash. Motorola Mobility will be run as a separate business and the company will continue to license Android for its handsets.

"I'm happy to announce the deal has closed. Motorola is a great American tech company, with a track record of over 80 years of innovation," said Google Chief Executive Larry Page. "It's a great time to be in the mobile business, and I'm confident that the team at Motorola will be creating the next generation of mobile devices that will improve lives for years to come."

Though it's not yet clear the extent of the changes Google will be making at Motorola, Mountain View did reveal one of them today: Dennis Woodside, President of Google's Americas region and the man overseeing integration planning for the acquisition, will now step into the role of CEO of Motorola Mobility. He's replacing Sanjay Jha who is stepping down but will work with Google to ensure a smooth transition.

"Sanjay Jha, who was responsible for building the company and placing a big bet on Android, has stepped down as CEO," said Page. "I would like to thank him for his efforts and am tremendously pleased that he will be working to ensure a smooth transition as long-time Googler Dennis Woodside takes over as CEO of Motorola Mobility."

Dennis won't be turning up at Moto HQ empty-handed, either, having already selected a small group of people to join the executive team at Motorola. This team will include Mark Randall, former supply chain VP at Amazon and previously at Nokia; Scott Sullivan, former head of HR at Visa and NVIDIA; Regina Dugan, former Director of DARPA; Gary Briggs, former Google VP of Consumer Marketing; and Vanessa Wittman, former CFO of Marsh & McLennan.

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Jane McEntegart
17 Comments Comment from the forums
  • soundping
    MooGle
    Reply
  • LukeCWM
    I predict that within two years, Google will lock down Android to only work on Motorola, or at least will charge exorbitant rates for Android on non-Motorola devices. They've gotten everybody hooked on Android for free, it's only a matter of time before they try to turn their good-will service into a cash-cow.
    Reply
  • PreferLinux
    LukeCWMI predict that within two years, Google will lock down Android to only work on Motorola, or at least will charge exorbitant rates for Android on non-Motorola devices. They've gotten everybody hooked on Android for free, it's only a matter of time before they try to turn their good-will service into a cash-cow.Then all the others will just keep using and developing an older version of Android, which will continue to be popular, and Google will be irrelevant in the mobile OS space... Unless they start playing patent troll.
    Reply
  • Kupo?
    Reply
  • heroictofu
    I see this as a move to expand Google's in-house manufacturing and testing facilities to further improve upon Android. Much easier to test phone software if you have gigantic facilities able to build phones to run your software.

    I doubt seriously that Google would close the doors entirely unless they are planning on an Apple-like strategy where they control everything. Which depending on how you look at it could be good or bad. As long as innovation reigns king, I say more power to them. If it fails, well, we still have iPhone, Windows Phone 8, and who knows what else might be developed within the next several years.
    Reply
  • chuckydb
    Can we safely say Motorola will have the next Nexus???
    Reply
  • opmopadop
    PreferLinuxUnless they start playing patent troll.My money is on the patent trolling.
    Reply
  • ericburnby
    Of course they'll get rid of Sanjay. After all, he's the one who stated last year that Motorola was going to sue other Android OEM's in order to generate revenue and also differentiaite Motorola's products from the rest of Android by having others remove key features.

    Google pretty much had to buy Motorola as this would have been a complete disaster. It's bad enough having Apple sue, but imagine if Motorola also started suing other Android manufacturers?
    Reply
  • LukeCWM
    heroictofuI doubt seriously that Google would close the doors entirely unless they are planning on an Apple-like strategy where they control everything. Which depending on how you look at it could be good or bad.
    Google is a master of developing something with ingenuity, making it available for free, gaining popularity before it is profitable at expense to the company, and then finding a way to make it profitable in the long run. In that light, I view Android as an operating system as a way to get their hooks into a booming market, and soon they'll look for a way to bring in the cash.

    I don't think you're that far off the mark with Google turning into the next Apple. Once upon a time, Apple was the innovator. Now, Apple makes a simple, sleek product, and they are wildly profitable with a hard-core following. Google is well on the way, I think. A closed, proprietary market is not my preference, not even close, but it is definitely profitable if you have a big enough following to make it work.

    I doon't own a single Apple product and don't want to, not even iTunes. I find their simplistic view of "the consumer wants only this, therefore we give you only this" to be chafing at best. They auto-default to controlling and limiting options, and either it is difficult or impossible to bypass this. For example, consider trying to manage an iPod like a folder, dragging and dropping the files you want instead of using their overblown syncing system. It can be done, but it requires non-Apple software.

    Also consider ripping music with the silence at the beginning and end of the track as the album was pressed and as the mastering engineer intended. I don't like my software to think it knows my music better than the mastering engineer.

    Also consider the lack of an SD card slot on iPhones, iPods, and iPads.

    These are all examples that could be great for a less discerning customer, dare-I-say "consumer". But not for me. I need more control, and I find their auto-control counter-intuitive and frustrating. I have the same experience in Chrome, where I want to get down to the complex options right away and they make it too simplistic by burying or not offering the options I am looking for, contrary to Firefox.

    I'm not saying Google is there yet, but I think they are well on the way to become the next Apple. And if I were the CEO of Google, I'd encourage this since it is good for the growth of the company and good for the stockholder.
    Reply
  • mamailo
    3Dfx did almost the same thing when brought STB and play a major to his bankruptcy . If Google alienated the third party vendors; will be the end of the road for Android.

    By the way Google can defend Android from the patent trolls like Apple.At least have deep pockets.
    Reply