On Friday China gave its approval for Google’s acquisition of Motorola with the stipulation that Android OS remain free and open for five years, as reported by CNET.  The Android OS is the world’s number one mobile operating system largely due to the fact that Google has kept it free.  Google’s CEO, Larry Page during a conference call in August 2011 when the merger was announced said that, “Many hardware partners have contributed to Android’s success and we look forward to continuing our work with all of them on an equal basis to deliver outstanding user experiences.”

Worried about open-source longevity? 

Android was built as an “open-sourced platform and it will stay that way,” Page promised, but with the news of the merger competitors were potentially going to be locked out of the operating system, or forced to pay licensing fees for its usage, driving up the cost of the phone and potentially turning away customers.  China’s approval seems to be a mechanism to prevent Motorola from gaining an advantage which might see its mobile devices work better with the OS than rival manufacturers, and the five year stipulation seems to address any ongoing concerns in this area.

There are some areas of worry, such as a fragmentation of Android on non-Motorola products forcing manufacturers such as HTC, Samsung, and LG to find ways to “differentiate their products from Motorola’s more Google-centric hardware.”  Motorola could look more like Apple’s iPhone with Google products such as YouTube, Google+ and Google Drive pushing subscribers to use.  The acquisition now completes Google’s foray into the mobile device field, in addition to Android, they now hold the device.  This complete control over their market share is setting Google up for direct competition with Apple, the only other mobile OS that is fully integrated with the device.

The new hardware model 

Google is planning to alter its model by focusing on direct sales and expanded partnerships and the Wall Street Journal reports on this new tact.  Google is planning to work with five manufacturers to create “Nexus,” an array of devices such as smartphones and tablets.  These then will be sold directly to the customer although at a higher initial cost in the short term; it gives Google more power over its devices, allows them to be available for sale quicker and there is no need for carriers to preload their own apps.  By skipping the carriers completely Google is giving customers control over the cell phone companies which have the ability to block some programs, such as Verizon’s refusal to allow Google Wall onto the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.  Up until this point, it has been Google’s model to work with one manufacturer at a time, notable the Samsung Nexus.

Jay Greene of CNET believes Google’s move to purchase Motorola, while lucrative for the company, is really so the company can get control of Motorola’s patent portfolio.  This is reiterated by Allen Lo, counsel at Google, who said, “We probably would not have bought Motorola if we did not have the situation.”

Google, a company which historically does not file patent lawsuits, with their new war chest of patents will have a better ability to counter and suits brought upon it by competitors, allowing them to file countersuit which typically ends in a resolution of the problem well before a judge ever is involved.  It is likely that having control of the patents though, will help developers create a viable iPad competitor without risk of patent infringement suits from Apple, who regularly files such actions against companies it deems to be adversaries.  While Google’s purchase of Motorola certainly sent shock-waves across the industry, the controls placed by China on the approval of the sale should alleviate fears by other mobile device manufacturers of receiving substandard editions of the Android OS or locking them out of Android all together.