Computing
Google's Acquisition of Motorola Mobility and Its Impact on the Tablet Industry
August 19, 2011 / Yaru Shih / Cindy Kuo / Chris Wei
11 Page, Radar
US$1,450 (Single User License)

Abstract

On August 15, 2011, Google announced the acquisition of Motorola Mobility for US$12.5 billion. In addition to enhance the competitiveness of Android operating system with Motorola Mobility's communications IP (Intellectual Properties), Google also seeks to tap into the home entertainment segment through Motorola Mobility's advantages in multimedia software and equipment. This report will analyze whether Google can establish a mobile device and home entertainment ecosystem by acquiring Motorola Mobility, as well as the impact of this deal on the future development of Android-based tablet device vendors.
  •  Table of Contents
  •  List of Topics
  •  List of Figures

MIC Perspective

Major branded tablet device vendors in Taiwan include Asus, Acer, and HTC. These vendors mainly adopt the Android operating system for their products. However, as they have relatively less application software and limited differences in product design, these vendors' shipment volume cannot compare with that of Apple iPad. Following Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility, these vendors are wary of the possibility that Google may choose to pour considerable investments into Motorola Mobility. Consequently, developing tablet products featuring entertainment and office functionalities in collaboration with Microsoft has become an important strategic option. At the same time, in the segment of Android-based tablets, these vendors are expected to enrich their content and customize their products in accordance with regional needs through cooperation with content and A/V service providers in the regional markets.

Although iPad still dominated the North American market, various vendors, including Amazon whose Kindle series represents over 70% of the e-reader market, have planned to launch their tablet products. Even though Amazon expects to boost the sales of content services by means of its own tablet device, the company remains an electronic retailer; making its application store, e-books, digital music and video available on more devices will benefit its content sales. As many branded Android-based tablet vendors do not have a competent lineup of content services, it is projected that they can seek to boost device sales through mutual collaboration with companies such as Amazon.

In the contract manufacturing segment, 80% of all tablet devices are manufactured by Taiwanese companies, and the majority of these devices are still Apple's iPad series. With major IT companies engaged in the development of cloud computing, it is envisaged that the contract manufacturers can seek vertical market cooperation with the IT companies, expanding their products to the enterprise or vertical application markets by combining the manufacturing of cloud computing equipment and sale of terminal devices. It is projected that the contract manufacturers will be able to improve their gross profit margins this way.

Appendix

Glossary of Terms

CPE

 

Customer Premises Equipment

DVR

 

Digital Video Recorder

IPTV

 

Internet Protocol TV

LBS

 

Location-Based Service

MSO

 

Multiple System Operator

STB

 

Set Top Box

USB

 

Universal Serial Bus

VOD

 

Video On Demand

List of Companies

Acer

 

宏碁

Agnilux

   

Amazon

   

Apple

   

Asus

 

華碩

Cablevision

   

Comcast

   

Google

   

HTC

 

宏達電

Huawei

 

華為

Motorola

   

Motorola Mobility

   

Motorola Solutions

   

P.A. Semi

   

Samsung

   

Sony

   

Time Warner Cable

   

Toshiba

   

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