Given, there are a lot of thoughts on this. Daring Fireball, PC World, Ars Technica, Business Week all have articles with varying thoughts. But the more I think about this, the more I'm convinced that this was only for the patents. Google hopes to protect its interests in Android using Motorola's more than 17,000 patents.
But This Is My Next and FOSS Patents, which covers primarily wireless and mobile patents, both have good coverage of the alternative view on the Motorola patents, which doesn't look so good for Google:
Until regulatory approval is granted, Google still has nothing to protect itself with patent-wise, and Google has no means of assisting in the patent disputes Motorola is currently engaged in.
Microsoft was happy to settle the patent lawsuit with HTC with some licensing fees, and would be perfectly content I imagine to do the same with Motorola. That will not be the case if dealing with a Google-subsidized business, however, which probably bodes poorly for the Android ecosystem overall. Should Microsoft actually have the ability to win, Google's now on the hook for Motorola's infringement, I would suspect. Knowing that they will be going after Google will only persuade Microsoft to strengthen and solidify its case. Counter-claims from Google would likely be minor as Microsoft does not manufacture its own phone hardware nor does Google have many patents on the Android OS itself.
Apple's got strong patents as they've already convinced the EU to stop sales of Samsung's tablets while more legal action unwinds, and as Mr. Mueller points out, Motorola's patents probably aren't very strong period. Apple can probably win this one regardless of who's funding the defense.
This one's only slightly interesting because the chances of Motorola having something to help Google and Android out on this one are zip. If Google is found to have willingly infringed or have acted in anti-competitive nature, Motorola's not going to protect them at all. Mr. Patel points out, however, Motorola owns patents on networking and video encoding that Oracle might be interested in bargaining for, which one could only hope make an interesting twist in this sad story.
Google is desperate:
Google...agreed to acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. for $40 a share in cash, or 73 percent more than the stock's 20-day trading average. That's the most expensive premium paid in a wireless-equipment takeover greater than $500 million since 1999, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The $9.8 billion price tag including net cash is 32 times the target's 2010 adjusted earnings, also the highest valuation in 12 years, the data show.
They were forced to overpay for a manufacturer that has declining share and flatline profit. But Google itself knew it was in a corner. It posted an almost 20% breakup fee, money paid to Motorola even if the deal should fall through.
"A high reverse breakup fee shows the buyer's confidence of getting the deal done," said Donna Hitscherich, a senior lecturer in finance at Columbia Business School, who is also a former banker and lawyer. "People don't do deals to get the breakup fee, they do them to get the deals done."
Google had to close the deal. The high breakup fee also indicates Motorola's worried Google can't get the deal past regulators and was reluctant to commit effort trying.
So what's Google's game? Either it's about the patents that may prove to be mostly useless, or it's about competing with the OEM partners that consume the free OS Google itself codes, which is to say, not competing with them. No partner could compete with Google controlled hardware running Google-controlled software, and they're been happy to let their feelings on the acquisition known in eerie similarity. Good for Microsoft, bad for Android and, in my understanding of Android's goal, ultimately Android itself.