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Google's Moto move spells iPhone doom 
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Open...and Shut Mergers and acquisitions used to be how a company bought revenue, customers, or cool technology. In the mobile world, it's increasingly a way to buy defensive patents.
This was clear in Google's $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility, and it will unfortunately fuel many of the strategies Apple, Google, and others employ to kill competition.
As much as we worried about overpriced engineers, perhaps there will now be a run on overpriced attorneys


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Those that rightly point out that Apple still dominates mobile profits completely miss the point. Actually, several.

First, Google doesn't make money directly from Android, and it really doesn't matter to Google how profitable its OEMs happen to be. The more smartphones and tablets there are on the market, the more money Google makes from advertising and other indirect revenue sources. In fact, while Apple is the single largest recipient of mobile-advertising money among the smartphone manufactures, as a group Android OEMs dominate the category.
Second, it's critical to remember who buys Android devices versus iOS devices: kids buy Android ("It's cheap!") while adults largely buy iOS ("Pricey, but it makes me cool with the other soccer dads!"). Guess which group will be buying devices long into the future?
Android owns the future global mobile buyer.


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Research in Motion has applied for or received 3,314 mobile-related patents, Nokia has 2,655, and Microsoft has 2,594. It's ridiculous to think that all of those patents cover very different aspects of mobile computing. Throw in Apple's and Motorola Mobility's thousands of patents, and the silliness becomes even sillier.

These patents almost certainly overlap to a great degree, and many of them are worthless to begin with. The sooner we get back to competing on product quality, innovation, and price, the better.

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Tue Aug 16, 2011 7:13 am
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I cant see this ending the dominance of the iPhone. Yes ending patent disputes would free up more innovation from all concerned.

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Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:05 am
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Android owns the future

That conjurers images...

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Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:12 am
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JJW009 wrote:
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Android owns the future

That conjurers images...

In 2050 Apple under the control of the undead lord skeltor of Jobs sends back the iTerminator i1000 to prevent its demise.
Coming to an iMax cinema soon!!!

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Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:28 am
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bobbdobbs wrote:
Google's Moto move spells iPhone doom

* YAWN *
How many times have we heard this?
And how many times have Apple out-trumped the competition with a better product and experience?
Time will tell if this is a masterstroke from Google that puts an end to Apple's dominance in this sector, but I somehow doubt it.
Glad to be proven wrong, though!

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The sooner we get back to competing on product quality, innovation, and price, the better.

Couldn't agree more, and on quality and innovation Apple seem to have the upper hand - yes, on price they could be much more aggressive but if people are buying iPhones in big enough numbers (which they seem to be) then Apple don't really need to cut prices.

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Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:30 am
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Can somebody explain to me how Google owning Motorola's mobile business (which radically needs an overhaul) is any different to Google supplying the existing manufacturers with a mobile OS?
Unless, and this is of course idle speculation, Google would like to tighten up what goes on with it's OS and sees that controlling both the OS and the hardware as being the best way forward.
Which will, in turn, infuriate the people who believe Android is free and open and everything's lovely.

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Tue Aug 16, 2011 9:55 am
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I've always believed the 'lowest price wins' dictum was a bit of an illusion to be honest with you. If you look at pretty much any market, it's not the cheapest option that dominates. Generally speaking it's the best value option that dominates. or possibly even 'best perceived value', which leaves some wiggle room for good marketing and brand loyalty. Simply making your widget cheaper than the other guy's widget generally doesn't win you lion's share of the market and in the process you cheat yourself out of income, unless you have some innovation that makes your widgets cheaper to produce, in which case good luck to you.

Time and again studies have shown that things can be 'too cheap'. People do associate quality with price, even subconsciously. The trick is to find the sweet spot where your product is affordable to the biggest segment of people while still not appearing to be a 'bargain bucket' option.

Jon


Tue Aug 16, 2011 9:55 am
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hello moto ...

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Tue Aug 16, 2011 10:29 am
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I still don't get the iPhone is too expensive thing. For most people it's only going to be a hundred odd quid, which seems pretty good for what you get to me.

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Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:00 am
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tombolt wrote:
I still don't get the iPhone is too expensive thing. For most people it's only going to be a hundred odd quid, which seems pretty good for what you get to me.

Actually when I signed up to my P910i contract many years ago I paid the same sort of figure and had a longish contract as well. The iPhone can be expensive depending on how you use it. As a PAYG phone it can be pricey.

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Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:27 am
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tombolt wrote:
I still don't get the iPhone is too expensive thing. For most people it's only going to be a hundred odd quid, which seems pretty good for what you get to me.

Er, you can't be serious.

For example, on T-Mobile, a 16GB iPhone 4 will cost you £100 on a £35/month 2-year contract.

The Samsung Galaxy S 2 is free on a £35/month contract. You also get 300 minutes more with this phone (900 vs 600 for the iPhone).

What does the iPhone do that the Galaxy S 2 doesn't then? Seems like a pretty expensive deal if you ask me.

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Tue Aug 16, 2011 12:55 pm
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Linux_User wrote:
tombolt wrote:
I still don't get the iPhone is too expensive thing. For most people it's only going to be a hundred odd quid, which seems pretty good for what you get to me.

Er, you can't be serious.

For example, on T-Mobile, a 16GB iPhone 4 will cost you £100 on a £35/month 2-year contract.

The Samsung Galaxy S 2 is free on a £35/month contract. You also get 300 minutes more with this phone (900 vs 600 for the iPhone).

What does the iPhone do that the Galaxy S 2 doesn't then? Seems like a pretty expensive deal if you ask me.

It allows you to experience the true wonder of iTunes.

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johnwbfc wrote:
I care not which way round it is as long as at some point some sort of semi-naked wrestling is involved.

Amnesia10 wrote:
Yes but the opportunity to legally kill someone with a giant dildo does not happen every day.

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Tue Aug 16, 2011 1:04 pm
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bobbdobbs wrote:
It allows you to experience the true wonder of iTunes.

Don't forget the Reality Distortion Field. ;)

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Tue Aug 16, 2011 1:34 pm
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What i meant was I was on a 35 a month contract before and now I still am with an iPhone for 100 quid. Doesn't make it expensive to me, it just makes the galaxy s look ludicrously cheap, but I guess they have to do that to try and gain Market share.

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ProfessorF wrote:
Can somebody explain to me how Google owning Motorola's mobile business (which radically needs an overhaul) is any different to Google supplying the existing manufacturers with a mobile OS?

At present the likes of Samsung and HTC are being sued left right and centre by Microsoft and Apple. Neither of whom dares to sue Google directly.

Neither can now sue either of those parties for any Android based patent infringement without going up against both Google and Motorola. If they try, Google will presumably use the same methods that Novell did to hijack SCO's Linux case, effectively putting any suit against HTC / Samsung on hold for years. If they don't fancy that, then they can still fight back on behalf of their OEMs with a counter suit.

That's the parent company which makes billions from Android (giving it both the motive and the means to defend itself more vigorously than its weaker partners), and the subsidiary that invented the mobile phone and probably owns enough patents to tear down the whole temple around it. If I were Apple, I'd settle with Samsung for $5 right about now.

I wouldn't be surprised if Google wants to get back out of the hardware business within a couple of years, but they won't sell those patents.


Tue Aug 16, 2011 7:40 pm
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