Moto Buys Good. Palm Next?
Moto still gets it!
Motorola continues to bet big on the Mobility Revolution, demonstrating that they believe that mobility is fundamentally transforming how business will be done.
Back in September, Motorola bought Symbol Technologies, giving the company a solid move into the space of automating traditionally paper-based processes with mobility. But the first place that most businesses are catching hold of mobility is in mobile e-mail, and this week Motorola announced the acquisition of Good Technology, a leading provider of e-mail mobility software.
Most of the commentary on the Good deal focuses on positioning Motorola to take share from Research In Motion (RIM), the maker of market leading Blackberry products. However, the combination of Good and Motorola’s other product lines is actually much more interesting. Unlike RIM, especially with the Symbol deal, Motorola has a portfolio that stretches well beyond the needs of corporate geeks addicted to mobile e-mail.
Unlike RIM, Motorola has a very solid position in the consumer space. Good’s usability innovations may help increase the adoption of consumer mobile e-mail as Motorola integrates this usability into their consumer devices. And with the Symbol acquisition, Motorola can turn the same trick with on-the-go workers beyond the halls of the corporate headquarters.
However, Motorola is still relatively weak in exactly the segments where Good and RIM have been strong - enabling white collar office workers to take their desk-bound tasks with them. Motorola’s launch of the Q smartphone earlier this year was an attempt to move into this space, but hasn’t yet taken over the market from RIM’s Blackberries or Palm’s Treos. Good’s software has already been available on the Q, so buying the supplier isn’t likely to magically do the trick.
Which brings us to some pure, unfounded speculation. Given Motorola’s aggressive buying spree, it’s natural to ask what’s next. How about Palm? Palm’s stock has been trading down this year, making it affordable and maybe even attractive. Palm’s products are a great complement to both Moto’s consumer portfolio and Symbol’s more hard working devices. And the combination of Good and Treo has been a pretty popular combination in the market.
Maybe Motorola’s finished with Christmas shopping. Or maybe they’re just getting started.
In any case, they clearly have their eyes set on the value being created as the Mobility Revolution transforms the business workplace!
November 17th, 2006 at 12:49 am
[...] Motorola recently bought Symbol Technologies, a well-known RFID equipment manufacturer. Now they’ve purchased [Law of Mobility] Good Technology, a make of e-mail mobility. Law of Mobility wonders if Moto will buy Palm next, and analyzes that scenario. My feeling is that while they might try, I can’t see why Palm would sell, despite recent drops in quarterly earnings. Palm has its own name, built up over several years. Though it might give them a serious advantage over RIM and their Blackberry products. [...]
March 20th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
[...] Just in case he’s right and Motorola ends up being the big winner, I can’t pass up the chance to remind everyone what I said way back in November: [...]