Google’s Schmidt Says Acquisition of Motorola Won’t ‘Screw Up’ Android
Source: Bloomberg
Google Inc. (GOOG) Chairman Eric Schmidt said the $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. may spur competition among phone makers using its Android software, and the company won’t play favorites with its partners.
“The Android ecosystem is the No. 1 priority, and that we won’t do anything with Motorola, or anybody else by the way, that would screw up the dynamics of that industry,” Schmidt said in an Oct. 1 interview with Bloomberg Television’s Erik Schatzker in Nantucket, Massachusetts. “We need strong, hard competition among all the Android players. We won’t play favorites in the way people are concerned about.”
Schmidt also said the 17,000 patents Google is gaining in the Motorola deal will “bulk up” its intellectual property and ultimately end legal battles among competitors in the $207 billion mobile-phone market. His comments come after analysts raised concerns that the Mountain View, California-based company’s August announcement of its biggest acquisition had made it a competitor to its own handset partners.
