Motorola Co-CEO Open to Microsoft Software Despite Suit
The head of Motorola Inc.'s mobile-phone business said he is open to developing devices that run Microsoft Corp.'s new mobile operating system, despite the patent-infringement lawsuits the software giant recently filed against his company.
Context & Ripple Effects
Motorola had spent 2009 courting Android developers, but February coverage had already raised questions about the depth of its Android commitment. Its stated openness to Microsoft therefore signals platform optionality rather than a settled device plan.
Microsoft's patent-infringement suits against Motorola form the immediate constraint: the companies' legal conflict has not foreclosed a potential supplier–licensee relationship in mobile software.
First-order effects
- Motorola's mobile-phone unit keeps Microsoft's new mobile operating system in its set of potential platforms, despite the unresolved litigation.
- Microsoft gains a public indication that a handset maker may evaluate its software even while challenging the company's patent claims.
Second-order effects
- Motorola's Android strategy faces greater pressure to justify exclusivity after the earlier signs of unease about its Android commitment; Microsoft becomes a credible alternative in Motorola's platform negotiations.
- Microsoft can pursue handset adoption while separating software partnership discussions from patent enforcement, making licensing terms part of the commercial calculus for Motorola.
Third-order effects
- If handset makers increasingly treat operating systems as interchangeable strategic options, mobile-platform suppliers will compete not only on software features but also on patent and licensing terms.
- The episode points toward a more interdependent mobile market in which companies can be courtroom adversaries and prospective platform partners at the same time.
The trend: Mobile-device makers are preserving operating-system optionality as software platforms and patent licensing become intertwined competitive levers.