Google first announced plans to purchase Motorola Mobility last summer and has been jumping through regulatory hoops ever since. U.S. and European governments approved the deal in February and China did the same over the weekend. CEO Larry Page announced today that longtime Googler Dennis Woodside and current Motorola Mobility Sanjay Jha will step down.
What the deal means for you and me is kind of unclear. Obviously, Google is behind the Android operating system, which works on smartphones by Motorola as well as numerous other companies. So will Google make it so that the Motorola phones work better than those by other companies? And in so doing, will the whole open ecosystem of Android get kind of smashed up?
CNET says that’s been on people’s minds:
Google has made it clear that Motorola will operate independently from its own operation, and the search giant/Android maker will not show any favoritism. However, according to reports, China was not so convinced of that, and forced Google to agree to keep Android open and free for a period of five years to ensure it didn’t change its stance and give Motorola preferential treatment.
On the other hand, no competitors seemed opposed to the deal:
J.K. Shin, Samsung’s mobile head, said back in August that he was pleased with the acquisition, and believed that it “demonstrates Google’s deep commitment to defending Android, its partners, and the ecosystem.”
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