Google to buy Motorola Mobility in the tune of $12.5 Billion

In an interesting turn of events Google announced on Monday morning they will be buying Motorola's mobile phone division Motorola Mobility in the tune of $12.5 Billion.  In a post on the official Google blog they released the initial details of the acquisition.  According to Google they will continue to operate Motorola Mobility as a separate business licensing the Android OS from Google and the Android OS will continue to remain open and available for others to use.

According to Dell Exec Amit Midha "Google Inc.'s (GOOG) acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (MMI) will strengthen the Android operating system platform by giving Google access to new patents, and Android will remain a "credible" option for use on tablet computers"  As part of the acquisition deal Google will gain a portfolio of nearly 17,000 patents and another 7,000 pending patents, many of which will likely be used to protect the Android OS and it's developers.  


Found in the Google press release, many of Androids partner companies have also weighed in on the acquisition.

“We welcome today’s news, which demonstrates Google’s deep commitment to defending Android, its partners, and the ecosystem.”

– J.K. Shin
President, Samsung, Mobile Communications Division

“I welcome Google‘s commitment to defending Android and its partners.”

– Bert Nordberg
President & CEO, Sony Ericsson

“We welcome the news of today‘s acquisition, which demonstrates that Google is deeply committed to defending Android, its partners, and the entire ecosystem.”

– Peter Chou
CEO, HTC Corp.

“We welcome Google‘s commitment to defending Android and its partners.”

– Jong-Seok Park, Ph.D
President & CEO, LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company

“We are positive towards Google’s continued commitment and investment in an open Android for the benefit of all players in the ecosystem.”

– Weili Dai
Co-founder, Marvell Technology Group

“Best Buy has worked closely with both Google and Motorola to bring great solutions to our customers. Now, with today’s news, we are excited to see what we can do together to serve consumers. Both companies have been tremendous partners to Best Buy and we expect that connection to get even stronger in the future.”

– Brian J. Dunn
CEO, Best Buy

“We are pleased to know that Google is making a move to strengthen Google’s (and thereby Android’s) patent portfolio. ZTE welcomes this step from Google to protect the value of Android ecosystem and the benefit of Android partners.”

– He Shiyou
EVP of ZTE Corporation and Board Directors, President of ZTE Mobile Devices Division