Acer claims Microsoft will benefit from Google's buyout of Motorola

TAIWANESE ELECTRONICS MAKER Acer has said that the real winner in Google's buyout of Motorola will be Microsoft.

Google's planned purchase of Motorola Mobility for $12.5bn has tongues wagging about the who's and why's of the deal. Some have thought that Google's offer to buy Motorola's handset division is simply a way of acquiring its patent portfolio to protect its Android operating system from patent infringement lawsuits.

Last week it emerged that Google stands to save a fortune on taxes due to Motorola's less than stellar income statement. There has also been a lingering question as to whether Google will get into the smartphone hardware business and compete with other Android handset makers such as Acer, HTC, LG and Samsung.

According to Walter Deppeler, president of Acer's EMEA operations, Microsoft will benefit the most from Google's purchase of Motorola. Deppeler said, "They work against some of their clients", adding, "It was a good gift to Microsoft." Deppeler even went so far as to say that Acer would consider the implications of the deal before choosing which operating system to use on its devices.

Google will have to work hard if it wants to keep members of the Open Handset Alliance on board. Even if Motorola continues as it is, making handsets that don't really stack up against the high-end units from HTC and Samsung, if the firm gets preferential treatment on Android software releases then there will be considerable friction among Google's Android partners.

Microsoft on the other hand might see this as an opportunity to flog its Windows Phone operating system with the insistence that it won't be getting involved in the hardware business.

Microsoft has always been very careful to steer away from selling phone hardware for exactly the reason put forward by Deppeler. Although the company sells Xbox games consoles, given that users cannot choose what software runs on which console, that's less of an issue for the firm.

Google will need to play it very cool if it intends to keep smartphone makers happy. Whether it will go so far as to sell off Motorola's handset business to reassure handset makers remains to the seen. µ