NPD: Android maintains US lead, Google buy could revive Motorola

Surprise surprise, Android is still the leading US smartphone platform, with a 52 percent second quarter share, according to the research firm NPD Group.

That’s to be expected, since not much has happened to displace Android’s lead in the last quarter. NPD also notes that Motorola’s market share has fallen in the quarter — down to 9 percent from 12 percent last year — but Google’s recent Motorola purchase could bring some new life to the phone manufacturer.

Motorola’s overall Android sales halved since last year — from 44 percent to 22 percent this quarter — in the face of Android competition from Samsung and LG. “Much as it did in the feature phone market in the RAZR era, Motorola is experiencing increased competition from Samsung and LG in the smartphone market,” NPD executive director of industry analysis Ross Rubin said in a statement today. “Closer ties to the heart of Android can help inspire new paths to differentiation.”

Motorola could also reclaim some ground in the prepaid smartphone field, according to NPD. Just 8 percent of prepaid phones were smartphones last year, but this year that figure jumped to 22 percent, buoyed by popular prepaid Android phones from the likes of Boost and Virgin Mobile. Rubin notes that prepaid phones were once a big segment for Motorola, and the company could become a significant player there again thanks to its close ties to Google.

As for the rest of the mobile market, Apple’s iOS also rose slightly in the quarter to 29 percent, while BlackBerry fell to 11 percent. WebOS, Windows Phone 7 , and Windows Mobile each held less than 5 percent of the market.

Image via Next Media Animation

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Tags: Android, Blackberry, iOS, iPhone, smartphones, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone

Companies: Apple, Google, Motorola, NPD

People: Ross Rubin

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Google must take the offensive with Motorola patent portfolio

Google’s plan to buy Motorola Mobility will likely win approval from the Department of Justice, just as Oracle earlier received approval to buy Sun. The acquisition will double Google’s workforce and increase the size of its patent portfolio to more than 17,000 patents. What should it do with all those patents?

Google is not an active patent plaintiff, but at the same time, Google has never owned this kind of patent portfolio before.

Larry Page wrote in a blog post that “Motorola will continue to be run as a separate business.” He also stated that the “acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio.” Well, surely Larry realizes these statements are to some degree incompatible.

At a minimum, the Motorola patents help Google defend its Android investment against Apple, Nokia, Microsoft and others. But Google needs more than defensive thinking to manage the Motorola patent portfolio.

Google must put the property to “its best and highest use,” as real estate people say. This means using patents offensively, depending on Google’s needs.

Google needs a patent strategy that people at Google and Motorola can understand and execute. The plan needs a degree of simplicity for successful implementation. Using a triangle as a model, Google can create a roadmap to guide internal decisions about how and when to use its newly acquired patent portfolio.

To implement the strategy, each patent in the Motorola portfolio should be assigned to one corner of the triangle. Patents might later move around depending on licensing, but this model establishes the initial priorities.

The first priority should go to patents that support Google’s core business. That means any Motorola patents related to search and advertising go to the top. Such patents apply towards protecting Google’s major revenue source, which is advertising.

Patents in this area would not be directly shared in support of the Android community. Rather, they would used to maintain Google’s advertising revenue stream, whether that revenue stream is derived from Android devices or not. Google would use these patents offensively to protect its core business.

The second priority is to apply Motorola patents to protect and grow Android-based products. Some might argue that this helps Motorola’s competitors. More objectively, a broadly supported Android platform creates momentum and competitive excellence for Motorola as well as for other Android manufacturers.

Solid platform support for the Android community increases hardware and software interoperability, and reduces the overall cost of Android as a solution. It also helps Android compete against Apple and Microsoft, providing more lift for Motorola.

History provides a guide here. The PCI bus created by Intel allowed the PC industry to achieve a high level of hardware and software compatibility. Because of that standard, all PC vendors could pass lower costs and better quality to consumers. The resulting greater volume provided an incentive for the industry to innovate much faster.

The same idea applies to using Motorola patents to grow and improve the market for Android devices. Google would use these patents defensively — a purpose acceptable to Android partners and developers.

The third corner of the triangle contains patents that provide unique product differentiation for Motorola. There are many areas where Motorola can enjoy a competitive advantage.

Likewise, all major Android device makers, including Samsung, HTC, and Huawei, have created patent portfolios in support of their devices and business objectives. Having patents to support Android-based products is an absolute business necessity for these vendors. These manufacturers took to heart what former Sun CEO Scott McNealy once said, that open source is “free, like a puppy is free“.

If the patent litigation history of these vendors is any example, Motorola will cautiously use such patents both offensively and defensively. Motorola should have no problem preserving and even enhancing its product differentiation using some, instead of all, of the 17,000 patents in the portfolio.

John Koenig is the founder of Compute Media and developer of “The Patent Studio”. You can follow him on Twitter at @johnkoenig.

Larry Page photo: Jakub Mosur

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Tags: acquisition, patent law, patents

Companies: Google, Motorola, oracle, Sun

People: John Koenig, Larry Page, Scott McNealy

View the original article here

Google must take the offensive with Motorola patent portfolio

Google’s plan to buy Motorola Mobility will likely win approval from the Department of Justice, just as Oracle earlier received approval to buy Sun. The acquisition will double Google’s workforce and increase the size of its patent portfolio to more than 17,000 patents. What should it do with all those patents?

Google is not an active patent plaintiff, but at the same time, Google has never owned this kind of patent portfolio before.

Larry Page wrote in a blog post that “Motorola will continue to be run as a separate business.” He also stated that the “acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio.” Well, surely Larry realizes these statements are to some degree incompatible.

At a minimum, the Motorola patents help Google defend its Android investment against Apple, Nokia, Microsoft and others. But Google needs more than defensive thinking to manage the Motorola patent portfolio.

Google must put the property to “its best and highest use,” as real estate people say. This means using patents offensively, depending on Google’s needs.

Google needs a patent strategy that people at Google and Motorola can understand and execute. The plan needs a degree of simplicity for successful implementation. Using a triangle as a model, Google can create roadmap to guide internal decisions about how and when to use its newly acquired patent portfolio.

To implement the strategy, each patent in the Motorola portfolio should be assigned to one corner of the triangle. Patents might later move around depending on licensing, but this model establishes the initial priorities.

The first priority should go to patents that support Google’s core business. That means any Motorola patents related to search and advertising go to the top. Such patents apply towards protecting Google’s major revenue source, which is advertising.

Patents in this area would not be directly shared in support of the Android community. Rather, they would used to maintain Google’s advertising revenue stream, whether that revenue stream is derived from Android devices or not. Google would use these patents offensively to protect its core business.

The second priority is to apply Motorola patents to protect and grow Android-based products. Some might argue that this helps Motorola’s competitors. More objectively, a broadly supported Android platform creates momentum and competitive excellence for Motorola as well as for other Android manufacturers.

Solid platform support for the Android community increases hardware and software interoperability, and reduces the overall cost of Android as a solution. It also helps Android compete against Apple and Microsoft, providing more lift for Motorola.

History provides a guide here. The PCI bus created by Intel allowed the PC industry to achieve a high level of hardware and software compatibility. Because of that standard, all PC vendors could pass lower costs and better quality to consumers. The resulting greater volume provided an incentive for the industry to innovate much faster.

The same idea applies to using Motorola patents to grow and improve the market for Android devices. Google would use these patents defensively — a purpose acceptable to Android partners and developers.

The third corner of the triangle contains patents that provide unique product differentiation for Motorola. There are many areas where Motorola can enjoy a competitive advantage.

Likewise, all major Android device makers, including Samsung, HTC, and Huawei, have created patent portfolios in support of their devices and business objectives. Having patents to support Android-based products is an absolute business necessity for these vendors. These manufacturers took to heart what former Sun CEO Scott McNealy once said, that open source is “free, like a puppy is free“.

If the patent litigation history of these vendors is any example, Motorola will cautiously use such patents both offensively and defensively. Motorola should have no problem preserving and even enhancing its product differentiation using some, instead of all, of the 17,000 patents in the portfolio.

John Koenig is the founder of Compute Media and developer of “The Patent Studio”. You can follow him on Twitter at @johnkoenig.

Larry Page photo: Jakub Mosur

Previous Story: US Best Buy stops selling TouchPad, HP gives refunds to?owners

Tags: acquisition, patent law, patents

Companies: Google, Motorola, oracle, Sun

People: John Koenig, Larry Page, Scott McNealy

View the original article here