ID :
202000
Thu, 08/18/2011 - 02:18
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/202000
The shortlink copeid
Smartphone race Local makers should develop software
Google's decision to buy Motorola Mobility is apparently aimed at gaining a foothold in the cell phone market. The $12.5-billion takeover is expected to escalate competition for smartphones. Yet it is uncertain for the purchase to put the brakes on Apple's success with the iPhone.
The overriding motivation for the deal is Google's hunger for Motorola's trove of more than 17,000 phone technology patents. They would help Google defend its Android mobile operating system against lawsuits claiming that the world's largest search engine and its partners infringed on patents of other firms.
In other words, Google intends to survive an ever-fiercer patent war for mobile devices by acquiring Motorola. Furthermore, it seeks to combine its software programs with Motorola's hardware technologies. By having a cell phone maker under its wing, Google will be better able to compete with Apple. However, the acquisition could also prompt Microsoft to take over cell phone giant Nokia.
If such a long-rumored takeover becomes reality, the global smartphone market could be led by Apple, Google and Microsoft. The question is what would happen to other cell phone manufacturers such as South Korea's Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. Samsung and LG have relied on Google's free Android software that made its debut in 2008.
For now, it is hard to gauge exactly what effect the Google-Motorola deal will have on the domestic makers. But, it seems that Samsung and LG have mixed feelings about the deal as it will serve as both an opportunity and challenge for them. First, the corporate marriage is expected to provide legal cover for the local firms as well as other smartphone makers that adopt Android.
Given Apple's legal battle against Samsung over patents, the largest mobile device maker in Korea could cash in on the patent cover the Google-Motorola union will provide. This would also consolidate its partnership with Google. But imagine what if Google might sever the partnership and go solo to dominate the market by utilizing Motorola's patents and technologies.
Samsung is now the world's second-largest smartphone maker after Apple. But, it may lose its fame all of a sudden if Google stops providing the free Android software, demands royalties, or develops a new operating system exclusively for its own mobile devices. In this regard, Samsung and other domestic makers should realize that they cannot survive the smartphone war without developing their own operating systems and other software.
Korean IT companies can hardly deny that they have long neglected devising software. They have made great progress in hardware and manufacturing technologies, boosting the nation's exports. But now, they should make all-out efforts to develop their own software, a core part of IT devices. This is easier said than done. But without innovative software, there will be no future for local makers.
The overriding motivation for the deal is Google's hunger for Motorola's trove of more than 17,000 phone technology patents. They would help Google defend its Android mobile operating system against lawsuits claiming that the world's largest search engine and its partners infringed on patents of other firms.
In other words, Google intends to survive an ever-fiercer patent war for mobile devices by acquiring Motorola. Furthermore, it seeks to combine its software programs with Motorola's hardware technologies. By having a cell phone maker under its wing, Google will be better able to compete with Apple. However, the acquisition could also prompt Microsoft to take over cell phone giant Nokia.
If such a long-rumored takeover becomes reality, the global smartphone market could be led by Apple, Google and Microsoft. The question is what would happen to other cell phone manufacturers such as South Korea's Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. Samsung and LG have relied on Google's free Android software that made its debut in 2008.
For now, it is hard to gauge exactly what effect the Google-Motorola deal will have on the domestic makers. But, it seems that Samsung and LG have mixed feelings about the deal as it will serve as both an opportunity and challenge for them. First, the corporate marriage is expected to provide legal cover for the local firms as well as other smartphone makers that adopt Android.
Given Apple's legal battle against Samsung over patents, the largest mobile device maker in Korea could cash in on the patent cover the Google-Motorola union will provide. This would also consolidate its partnership with Google. But imagine what if Google might sever the partnership and go solo to dominate the market by utilizing Motorola's patents and technologies.
Samsung is now the world's second-largest smartphone maker after Apple. But, it may lose its fame all of a sudden if Google stops providing the free Android software, demands royalties, or develops a new operating system exclusively for its own mobile devices. In this regard, Samsung and other domestic makers should realize that they cannot survive the smartphone war without developing their own operating systems and other software.
Korean IT companies can hardly deny that they have long neglected devising software. They have made great progress in hardware and manufacturing technologies, boosting the nation's exports. But now, they should make all-out efforts to develop their own software, a core part of IT devices. This is easier said than done. But without innovative software, there will be no future for local makers.
