Google has recently purchased Motorola for $12.5 billion in order to obtain a greater amount of intellectual property; however, experts are wondering if this will make its Android partners feel as though it is more competition and less of an ally.
According to Google, the Motorola company will maintain its function as a separate organization. However, other manufacturers of handsets such as HTC and Samsung Electronics may still see this as a form of competitive threat.
Analyst Michael Gartenberg from Gartner explained that no matter how Google describes its relationship with Motorola, that manufacturer will always have the favored position with them. He stated that “If I’m a third-party vendor, I have some real concerns here.”
Google has long held that it would not attempt to put its oar into the handset pool, but is now changing directions. Concern had originally started when the internet giant began selling Nexus One to consumers directly through its website in the first half of 2010. Google’s claim at the time was that it had no interest in building competition with its partners.
However, with a Motorola deal now in play, Google seems to be working in direct opposition to that claim. Analysts think that as Google works to build an experience that is more consistent, vendors will start to become increasingly differentiated and will somewhat rely on the stock Android platform.
So far, there haven’t been any disagreements, and Larry Page, the CEO of Google, has restated the company’s position for keeping an open environment.
