The reason behind Google’s purchase of Motorola is finally coming to fruition

 



Last week I wrote a story about my thoughts on where I think the Nexus line is headed. Google was never a hardware company, but when Android was at its infancy, Google got into it for investing in cutting edge hardware along with their partners to guide the ecosystem. Fast forward to now and things have changed a lot. Google no longer needs to guide the ecosystem. Companies like Samsung, HTC, LG, and Sony are doing just fine in investing in the latest and greatest. It is this reason that I believe Google will not release a Nexus phone moving forward, and instead, let OEM’s release Nexus Editions for their current hardware. The reason for all of this is quite simple, Google isn’t a hardware company, they are an advertising and service company.

A recent article at DigiTimes suggests that my conclusions were right. They are reporting that Google will cut a lot of the resources and money they have spent on handset development and shift it to improving its software and core business. Just take a look at this year’s Google I/O for further evidence. Hardware was never mentioned other than the Galaxy S 4 Nexus Edition. Yes, the reason was because they wanted to “concentrate on developers” since it is a developer conference, but it’s obvious that hardware isn’t going to be the focal point anymore, at least for handsets. They will still invest resources in other newer and developing technologies like Google Glass, set top TV boxes, and smartwatches.

 

This strategy started with the purchase of Motorola, but at that time everyone thought it was about the patents. Motorola’s patents were never all that successful, so why would Google want Motorola for just patents? It was the hardware. When I wrote that article last week, I got a lot of comments saying that Google needs to keep the Nexus program (for phones) alive because it’s the only way consumers can get decent hardware at an attractive price. That’s exactly where Motorola fits in. October/November is the time when Google usually introduces a new Nexus phone, but not this year. Instead, the Motorola X phone will be announced, and it will be a stock Android experience at an affordable price.

Google bought Motorola to help them get away from handset hardware, but everyone said that they couldn’t allow them to make Nexus devices since it would upset other OEMs. With this new trend, nobody has to worry about it since we won’t see pure Nexus phones moving forward. Instead, we will see Nexus Edition phones from any OEM who wants to participate. At the same time, Google’s Motorola will do the same, but the concentration will be on good hardware at an affordable price. It’s a win win for everyone because nobody needs to get upset at Google for treating Motorola as their pet and we have more pure Android devices to buy. Lastly, Google can concentrate on making Android and other core services better, but they can also concentrate on the hardware that still needs to be guided like Glass,