Reborn Entrepreneurial Giant

Google and Honor contacted Motorola successively, but there was no offer, and then Qu Li met with Google CEO Larry Page to formally talk about the acquisition.

Google needs Motorola's patents, and Honor also needs them. In order to maintain the neutral status of Android, Google should not directly compete with mobile phone manufacturers such as Honor Samsung. Therefore, after the acquisition of Motorola, some media in the United States predicted that it would be transferred to Chinese companies.

The professional capabilities of American financial media are trustworthy. Google later sold the remaining assets of Motorola Mobility to someone for $2.9 billion.

Now with Glory's participation, things didn't get any more complicated.

"Our team has discussed that Google and Honor have their own needs for Motorola. The best option is to cooperate and share a part." Qu Li is an honest person, and he quickly revealed the truth.

"We see it that way, too." Larry Page was full of ambition when he took charge of Google for the first time.

"Patents are the most difficult to divide. Let's not talk about this. We only need the mobile phone business and patents, and the set-top box business, including the factory, is left to you." Motorola is the second largest set-top box company in the United States.

"It's useless if we want factories, and the promotion of Android TV needs glory..."

"But we don't plan to do TV business, and we don't want to add more trouble to this acquisition." Qu Li meant that he didn't want any more sensitive business. Well, this is a bit of a nonsense, mobile phones are much more important than set-top boxes , Qu Li just didn’t want to be in the TV business. Later, a company called Roku accounted for about 49% of the U.S. streaming media terminal market, with a market value of no more than 10 billion US dollars.

It looks good, but the relationship between China and the United States is like a day in June-it changes as soon as it is said. Why did Qu Li provoke them too much?

"This market is not big. Android TV can cooperate with YouTube's streaming media, so it should be very suitable to become Google's hardware business?" Qu Li asked doubtfully.

Larry Page and the others had discussions, but this matter did not reach a conclusion, and they continued to talk about the distribution of Motorola's other businesses. Obviously, Google has already regarded Motorola as its own.

Honor and Google compete for Motorola, and they definitely can't win. The most they can do is push up the purchase price and disgust Google, but they will cooperate in the future.

"I hope Honor uses the Android system and app store..." Page

Google has not launched GMS at this time, and Honor has launched something similar to GMS. Through various subsidies, developers can adapt, tighten mobile phone permissions, and improve system security. But the relationship with Android can be regarded as estranged. If it continues like this, Google will make a wedding dress for glory, paying a lot but making no money.

But Glory already has the qualifications to start its own business at this time, and it is not easy to build a branch open source project on the basis of AOSP, at least it is not impossible. So, just like Google did not dare to force Samsung to compromise, it also did not dare to force Honor at this time.

"I have also considered this issue. Honor wants to maintain a long-term cooperative relationship with Google Android, instead of killing the chicken and picking the eggs." In Quli's position, the pros and cons must be considered comprehensively. This is not a world where China sets the rules of the game. If you want to make money in the United States To abide by their laws and rules of the game.

Although Google has a relatively high bottom line for excellence, it is an American company after all. If you say they are pure and kind, Qu Li doesn't believe it anyway. If you really want to get rid of Google and go it alone, you don't know how many holes you will dig for Honor. But KOS is absolutely impossible to give up. To guarantee the initiative of releasing new phones, Honor must have its own operating system and chips.

Qu Li and Larry Page exchanged their ideas frankly. First of all, they confirmed that the Chinese market has no restrictions. Honor wants to use KOS and Android freely. Google is most concerned about the European, American, Japanese and Korean markets.

"This is what I think. The flagship phones of the Honor G series use KOS and self-developed chips, and the Mate series phones use Qualcomm chips and Android systems..."

"What about Microsoft?"

"I don't think Microsoft can succeed, they missed the best time." Another unspoken reason is more obvious, Android is more free and flexible.

"This reason is not enough." Larry Page will not be so simple, although he also thinks that Microsoft Windows Phone is not to be feared, and he does not want to give them a chance.

"KOS, Android and WindowsPhone, glory must have a focus. If there is such a day, we will not give up on KOS, nor will we give up on Android, unless Google takes the initiative..." Qu Li raised the stakes. What they are discussing is the international market, which is impossible in China. Honor Android phone. So, a company like Microsoft is truly terrifying, and glory cannot be avoided.

"Whether it's Android or KOS, install the Google App Store..."

"KOS's standards are more stringent, we must ensure basic safety..."

"Google Play Store can adopt the same standard as KOS."

Google has a revenue-sharing agreement for Android phone manufacturers, which requires pre-installed Google Search and the App Store. Samsung gets $3.5 billion, and Apple gets $3 billion a year for pre-installing Google Search. In 2022, AppStore will give developers a share of 60 billion U.S. dollars, and Google Play's annual revenue will be about 10 billion U.S. dollars.

The conflict of interests is very annoying, Qu Li can't be sure of these figures, the two of them discuss together, and there will definitely be a result, and they won't care about "small profits".

Google not only wants Honor KOS to install Google Search and the Google App Store, but also Honor no longer subsidizes developers. The amount of subsidies given to Honor is secondary. Anyway, there must be a principle of non-discrimination, which cannot be worse than Apple and Samsung. In addition, Honor will be given a one-time compensation for the acquisition of Motorola, which may not be put on the bright side.

Then how to buy Motorola, how much money? The needs of the two companies are different, and the prices given are different. It is difficult to determine the sincerity of Google's so-called compensation.

Qu Li needs Motorola's brand, channels and patents, while Google needs patents and technologies to develop its own brand mobile phones and set-top box Android TV. Neither company wanted a factory, so a compromise was made. Honor won the factory in the Asia-Pacific region, and the rest was handed over to Google.

"What is the purchase price of Motorola?" Qu Li asked the key point, and he knew the answer after two sets.

"$12.5 billion." Larry Page

The next step is to allocate assets and negotiate prices. The set-top box business is estimated at 2.5 billion US dollars. Motorola still has 3 billion US dollars in cash. Billion dollars is not much, is it? Is Motorola's brand, channels, factories and teams only worth 2 billion US dollars?

It's better to divide the patents. It must be Google's priority, but the needs of the two companies are close.

"You have already licensed a large number of patents..."

"Patent authorization is just to buy road money, and only having a patent can play a defensive role."

Then the two reached an agreement to form a joint venture company to jointly acquire, then divide various assets including patents, and then do cross-licensing. Fortunately, Honor has already researched Motorola's patents and will not lose the initiative.

A week passed quickly, and Google and Honor finally reached a tacit agreement.