This post is inspired by this post. See this cartoon.
So Yahoo decides to play wait-and-see with Microsoft, rejecting the initial offer and waiting for US$40 per share. Meantime, the Redmond money men must be calculating if that amount of money is worth spending for a company with so many similar technology assets.
Here, I present, another acquisition option: Motorola! Well, it's handset division.
Moto's all but hinted that they've thrown in the towel in the mobile phone industry and are "exploring ways" to accelerate the recovery of its handset business. Most analysts are reading this as "please buy us out."
And so the names have been spun around - LG could chomp and instantly make itself number 3 in this market. So could Samsung or even Huawei. My take is... what about Microsoft?
Sure, Microsoft can make great devices. Witness the XBOX 360 and all the Microsoft Mice and Keyboards. But it can just as easily flop (Zune?). Purchasing Motorola would give MS a leg into the mobile space and put it smack dab into the centre of the convergence space - internet + computers + mobile.
Serious.
The one thing that Motorola has consistently been unable to get right has been its operating system. In fact, personally, I think the best Moto phones are those that ship with Windows Mobile 6, which (surprise surprise), is a Microsoft product.
Services is the other thing that Motorola haven't really communicated a gameplan on. Microsoft does services. Doesn't take a genius to put two-and-two together.
The only problem would be integrating a hardware division into Microsoft. But, it's not like this something that Microsoft hasn't gone and done before. Moto's handphone division could still continue operating independently whilst integration could take a step by step process.
The bottomline is, MS has money to spend. Yahoo's probably a fair acquisition. But, in my books, Motorola's handset business looks prime.
Monday, February 11, 2008
To Microsoft: forget Yahoo! and buy Motorola's handset division
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3 comments:
Great look at the whole thing... though I don't think MS would risk miffing their other device partners by getting Motorola... imagine them saying, hey no fair, now you've got more vested interest in your own device, what about us?
If they wanted a mobile hardware acquisition, Motorola-Microsoft as a brand won't really fly either; Motorola's a top global brand in 2006, I think.
But, they did make a mobile acquisition: Danger, the company that indirectly gave birth to Google's AAndroid platform!
Thos MS fellas, damn teruk lar I tell ya... and they tried to rationalise it by saying its to "consumerise" their offerings! Dahsyat!!!
Hi Cat:
Heard you were sick? Feeling better?
What's your blog address? I didn't get it. Just email me if you like.
Anyway, yups, saw the Microsoft deal then next day after I put up this post. No, I do think Microsoft has the mobile space in its sights and really, the new line-up of mobile device players could be Microsoft, Nokia, Apple and Google.
Notice I said device because I'm starting to think the convergence market is going to move further and further away from the traditional mobile phone market (which will still be big bucks, by the way).
For everything they are, you'd still have to respect that Microsoft generally knows what it's doing.
Yea, have chicken pox.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN1760137520080217?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews
Don't think they do. Seemed more like intimidation tactics...
It will all be on my facebook notes :D
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