Google made a $12.5 billion investment today that the Internet is moving mobile with an announcement to acquire Motorola Mobility Holding. This allows Google to get into the business of making smartphones and tablets. The future of Android builds, Google claims 150 million mobile activations of Android worldwide and 550,000 devices are activated every day.
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. 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.
This is Google’s largest acquisition to date and an all-cash deal. Analysts suggest the merger can accelerate smartphone and tablet competition. Maybe most importantly, the deal gives ownership of 17,000 patents that would help Google defend Android from a barrage of patent lawsuits.
