Motorola Mobility Building Web-Based OS
Hedging its bet on Android, Motorola is looking for a way to have more control over its destiny. — Motorola Mobility has hired a number of experienced mobile and Web engineers from Apple and Adobe and is developing a Web-based mobile operating system …
Context & Ripple Effects
Motorola’s Android commitment dates to its 2008 recruiting for an Android social-networking smartphone project, followed by a 2009 effort to court Android developers. Reports of a Motorola-controlled web layer appeared in 2009, and the 2010 Azingo acquisition suggested the company was assembling assets for greater software control.
The new operating-system effort makes that strategy more explicit: Motorola Mobility is adding Apple and Adobe engineering talent while retaining Android as a hedge rather than treating it as its only software path. Its February 2011 Android security plans show the company was also trying to differentiate within Android itself.
First-order effects
- Motorola Mobility gains a second software-development track and a larger in-house mobile/Web engineering base, reducing its reliance on Android alone for product differentiation.
- Android faces a major handset partner investing in an alternative platform layer, even as Motorola continues to build Android devices and security features.
Second-order effects
- Motorola’s developer outreach becomes harder to focus: developers may need to assess whether Motorola’s future software features target Android, its Web-based system, or both.
- Apple and Adobe become more relevant talent sources in Motorola’s product strategy, as the company recruits experience in mobile interfaces and Web technologies rather than relying solely on Android’s software stack.
Third-order effects
- If other Android hardware makers pursue comparable operating-system control, differentiation in smartphones shifts from hardware specifications toward ownership of the software layer, services, and developer relationship.
- The move belongs to a broader contest for a manufacturer-owned mobile software stack, where Android adoption and platform independence are managed in parallel rather than treated as mutually exclusive.
The trend: Android handset makers are seeking system-level control while preserving Android’s market reach, turning the operating system into a strategic dependency to be hedged rather than simply adopted.