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[英语漫谈] Google snaps up Motorola Mobility

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发表于 2011-8-26 21:44:03 | 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式
Google has outlined its largest and boldest acquisition yet with the agreement to pay $12.5bn in cash for Motorola Mobility, the US smartphone company, in a deal that escalates the search company's rivalry with Apple and gives it control over more wireless patents.

The deal will see Google pay $40 per share for Motorola Mobility – a 63 per cent premium to the company's closing share price on Friday – and gain the $3bn of cash sitting on Motorola's books. Google had $36bn in cash on its balance sheet at the end of June.

The acquisition will put Google and Apple head-to-head in the battle for dominance in the fast-growing smartphone market, as both companies will control the hardware and software of their products.

But the deal also gives Google direct access to Motorola Mobility's portfolio of more than 17,000 patents and 7,500 pending patents, ammunition Google believes it needs to repel a patent assault by Apple, Microsoft, Oracle and others on its Android mobile phone operating system.

Larry Page, the Google co-founder who took over as Google's chief executive in April, said the deal would "supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers".

The operating system, licensed for free to mobile phone handset makers, has surged in popularity since the first Android phone was launched in 2008. It claimed 48 per cent of the global smartphone market in the latest quarter, according to Canalys, a market research firm.

But acquiring a handset manufacturer will put Google into direct competition with many of the companies that rely on Android to power their own smartphones.

Andy Rubin, senior vice-president of mobile at Google, said: "Google remains firmly committed to Android as an open platform and a vibrant open source community."

HTC, Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson issued short statements welcoming the deal, which, they all said, showed that Google was defending Android and its partners.

The potential value of Motorola's patent portfolio was highlighted last month by Carl Icahn, the billionaire Wall Street investor and Motorola Mobility's largest single investor, who called on management to "consider its options" for maximising the value of its patents.

Google was recently outbid by a consortium led by Apple which paid $4.5bn for 6,000 wireless patents owned by Nortel Networks, the defunct Canadian telecommunications equipment maker – a deal that helped highlight the value of intellectual property in the mobile phone industry.

Motorola Mobility was demerged from Motorola this year after the handset maker was left behind in the touchscreen smartphone revolution ushered in by Apple's iPhone in 2007.
搜索引擎巨擘谷歌宣布以125亿美元现金的价格,收购美国智能手机公司摩托罗拉移动(Motorola Mobility),这是该公司迄今规模最大、最大胆的一笔收购。此笔交易将使谷歌与苹果(Apple)之间的竞争升级,并使谷歌得以控制更多的无线技术专利。



截至6月底在资产负债表上拥有360亿美元现金的谷歌,对摩托罗拉移动的出价折合每股40美元,相比后者上周五收盘价格,这一收购价有63%的溢价。



谷歌和苹果将在快速增长的智能手机市场展开直接较量,争夺霸主地位,两家公司都将控制各自产品的硬件和软件。





但这笔交易还将使谷歌获得摩托罗拉移动的逾1.7万条专利和7500条申请中的专利。谷歌相信,这些专利将使其拥有充足的“弹药”,足以击退苹果、微软(Microsoft)、甲骨文(Oracle)以及其它公司对谷歌Android手机操作系统发起的专利侵权诉讼攻势。



谷歌创始人之一、4月出任该公司首席执行官的拉里·佩奇表示,这笔交易将“大幅增强整个Android生态系统,造福于消费者、合作伙伴和开发者”。



市场研究公司Canalys的数据显示,自2008年首款Android手机问世以前,这种授权手机制造商免费使用的操作系统人气激增,在最近一个季度占据了全球市场48%的份额。



但是,收购一家手机制造商,将使谷歌与许多采用Android的智能手机制造商形成竞争。





谷歌的移动业务高级副总裁安迪·罗宾(Andy Rubin)表示:“谷歌对Android作为一个开放平台、和一个富有活力的开源社区仍抱有坚定承诺。”



宏达电(HTC)、三星、LG和索尼爱立信均发表简短声明,对这笔交易表示欢迎。这些厂商均表示,该交易展示出谷歌在捍卫Android和自己的合作伙伴。

上月,亿万富翁投资者、摩托罗拉移动的最大单一股东卡尔·伊坎(Carl Icahn)敦促公司管理层考虑最大化专利资产价值的各种选择,此举凸显了摩托罗拉专利资产组合的潜在价值。

谷歌最近在竞标加拿大破产电信设备制造商北电网络(Nortel Networks)的6000份无线技术专利过程中失手。由苹果牵头的一个财团以45亿美元中标,凸显出知识产权在这个频频受到侵权诉讼冲击的行业中的价值。

摩托罗拉移动是今年从摩托罗拉剥离的,此前该公司在苹果iPhone智能手机开启的触摸屏技术革命中被抛在后面。



Key words:



acquisition  n. (企业的)兼并,并购



premium  n. (商品定价、贷款利息等以外的)加价,溢价



portfolio n. 资产组合



mobile phone handset  手机(特指不含操作系统的硬件手机机身)



intellectual property  知识产权



smartphone  智能手机



touchscreen  触摸屏
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