Google has completed their $12.5 billion takeover of Motorola Mobility. The deal was sealed yesterday, nine months after Google made the announcement that they wanted to expand into the hardware sector. This is their biggest and most memorable takeover yet.
Google have had great success with their Android platform, claiming the top spot in many parts of the world since they launched. The acquisition of Motorola Mobility means they now have a strong platform for hardware development, alongside their software development.
Many analysts feel that the Motorola takeover is risky, as the company have been struggling in recent years to compete in the market. Their last huge hit was the Razr smartphone in 2005. They have dropped from 2nd place worldwide to 8th place with only 2% of the worldwide market share.
Dennis Woodside has been named as Motorola's CEO, he has replaced Sanjay Jha to run the organisation. Woodside comes from Google, having been in charge of online advertising as president of Google's America region. His responsibilities account for $17.5 billion of Google's revenue last year. Some question his selection as CEO of Motorola however.
Kitguru says: Exciting times ahead for Google.