“HTC could have been the dominant device maker Samsung is today, but the Taiwanese company suffered financial defeat after defeat no matter how great its Android offerings were,” Chris Smith writes for BGR. “Google, which is already tapping HTC to make its Pixel and Pixel 2 phones, is apparently interested in HTC’s ailing mobile division, and reports say that the parties are in the final stage of negotiations for a Google takeover.”
“Google is only after the mobile arm of HTC, Chinese-language Commercial Times explains,” Smith writes. “If accurate, this wouldn’t be the first time Google has bought a mobile device maker. We all remember Google’s 2012 $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola.”
“The whole thing turned out to be a financial disaster for Google, which ended up selling Motorola to Lenovo only two years later, for less than $3 billion,” Smith writes. “If Google isn’t bidding for HTC, then someone should. According to Digitimes, HTC’s August revenues were the lowest in 13 years…”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Why should someone buy a proven failure? Tax write-off?
Interns: TTK!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
There may not be a Samsung to compete with.
… In order of Google to be able to drive HTC’s smartphone division into the ground, just as they did with Motorola’s phone division.
Take heed HTC.
Caffeine titer declining. Please read:
“In order FOR Google to be able to drive HTC’s smartphone division into the ground…”
Why did Google buy Motorola for $12.5 billion and sell it off for $2.91 billion?
Google wants to give another shot at it, I guess.
It learned from its mistakes, perhaps it would do better next time.
Google seems intent to continue its Pixel line of phones, made by HTC. Considering its ability to immediately update with the latest Android security patches, it’s the safest of the Android ‘Smart’phones.
Google kept a lot of the patents. HTC and AAPL have patent cross licenses. Not sure how that’s going to work. I presume that is why they are buying the company. Easy enough for them to have third parties design and build their phones w/o owning the company. HTC is dead man walking as it is.
If I recall, the cross licensing was an out of court settlement from Apple suing HTC over patent violations. Google would have to abide by the settlement ruling regarding the same patents. What’s interesting is what AAPL patents are part of the settlement. How is Apple going to deal with cross licensing with what will become Google?
All you Floridians be careful this weekend.
Motorola was not a financial disaster at all. That at least made some sense, as they got a boatload of Motorola patents, Motorola had $3 billion in cash as well as almost another $3 billion in deferred tax credits that made the whole transaction fairly cheap. It was only really about the patents though and being able to defend Android. I don’t get what has changed in the landscape where it makes sense for them to pick up a Taiwanese hardware designer, unless HTC goes bankrupt and they can pick it up virtually for free.
Nice spin, but if it was just about the patents and the cash and tax benefits, they could have bought it and quietly shut it down. (Or like Apple often does, make a much smaller investment that gives them patent rights without buying the company.) But instead Google proved, once again, they were incapable of building high end hardware products that could compete on any level with Apple. They wasted billions and confused other Android phone manufactures before they had to give up and sell to Levono at a loss. Motorola was an embarrassing failure for Google and continuing proof that Android only survives as a loss leader requiring periodic infusions of billions to keep it afloat.
“How Great Android’s offerings were.” Is this considered an oxymoron?