Google which just acquired Motorola Mobility has become the second biggest Android handset manufacturer in North America. As per the data released by Localytics, Google-Motorola combine has surpassed Samsung, to become the second biggest Android manufacturer. Google-Motorola has 29% market share, HTC has 35% market share and Samsung has 25% market share. The numbers are based on the Android app data collected by Localytics. The original share might differ but wouldn’t be far from this trend.
When the news of Google buying Motorola was announced all eyes were on the patent war chest Motorola brings with it. 17000 approved patents and 7500 in the pipeline, Google, Android and 39 Android manufacturers, couldn’t have asked for a better deal. The time has come to look beyond patents.
Google has not only bolstered its patent portfolio, but also has one big fat foot into the handset manufacturing. Take a look at the chart below :
Google is the second biggest Android handset manufacturer just behind HTC.
Google has fancied a pure Android experience with its Nexus series of devices. Now it can roll out as many such devices with dedicated Google+, GMail and whatever buttons it wants. Google has now become a vertically integrated company like Apple and RIM.
Samsung and HTC, though happy that Android is almost safe with Google new possession, they are not without their fears. The fear of competing with a vertically integrated company.