Hot on the heels of the analysis by Bloomberg on the Googorola patent mutant monster Eric Schmidt has said that the acquisition was about more than just patents.
Wow. Amazing.
Schmidt and was quoted as saying “We did it for more that just patents. We actually believe that the Motorola team has some amazing products coming.”
Back in 2002 Carly Fiorina said:
With Compaq, we become No. 1 in Windows, No. 1 in Linux and No. 1 in UNIX. This new strength and our market presence make us a much more attractive partner. And with our combined market position in servers, we will be able to engage the software community in building the applications that will drive demand for Itanium systems
Compaq is the leading provider of storage systems in the world on a revenue basis. With Compaq, we become the No. 1 player in storage, and the leader in the fastest growing segment of the storage market - storage area networks.
With Compaq, we double our service and support capacity in the area of mission-critical infrastructure design, outsourcing and support. And while support is frequently considered the boring part of the services business, it produces mid-teens operating margins quarter after quarter. It's like the supplies business - more is better.
More verbose that Schmidt but basically the same sentiment its not just about the PC business.
Mark Hurd, said about the Palm acquisition “We didn’t buy Palm to be in the smartphone business. And I tell people that, but it doesn’t seem to resonate well. We bought it for the IP. The WebOS is one of the two ground-up pieces of software that is built as a Web operating environment…We have tens of millions of HP small form factor Web-connected devices…Now imagine that being a Web-connected environment where now you can get a common look and feel and a common set of services laid against that environment.”
According to Hurd it wasn’t about Palm’s gizmo business.
So all three of these acquisitions aren’t about the most obvious. Sure HP bought Palm for their patents on an OS that no one uses rather than as a quick way to get into a hot and expanding market segment that they totally missed while they bathed in the glow of becoming the No.1 PC maker.
Schmidt went on to say “We’re excited to have the product line, to use the Motorola brand, the product architecture, the engineers. These guys invented the RAZR. We know them well because they’re Google Apps users.”
So let me get this straight. It’s not about the patents really its about the production facilities, the engineering brilliance and the name Motorola?
While the RAZR was a very lust worthy piece of equipment all Motorola did with it was churn out variant after variant of the same handset. After a few years Motorola was yawn worthy, greeted with a resounding “What? Another razory thing? Where’s the Nokia?”
So either Motorola was acquired for their patents which is starting to look more and more like not such a great idea. Or. They bought Motorola to get into the handset business and compete against their customers. Also not a great idea.
This is looking more and more like another glorious corporate exercise in hubris and overreaching that’s going to come home to roost some time in the future.
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