Back in August, Google acquired Motorola Mobility , the mobile division of Motorola, for a whopping $12.5 Billion. As with any large acquisition, the deal must be approved before it can go all the way through and be final.
Now, a consumer watchdog group wants European regulators to not approve the deal under the grounds that it is anticompetitive and a monopoly. A monopoly is defined as the exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service.
Depending on who you ask, the deal isn’t a monopoly at all. The company is acquiring just one smartphone manufacturer which also happens to give them access to their set top boxes and other hardware. On the other hand, it would allow them to directly control many aspects which is why the concern.
“The Internet is too important to allow an unregulated monopolist to dominate it,” John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project, wrote to the EU’s competition commissioner, Joaquin Almunia.”
“Simpson argued that a combined Google and Motorola would “provide Google with unprecedented dominance in virtually all aspects of the mobile world—manufacturing, operating systems, search and advertising. It would be a virtually unstoppable juggernaut. We urge you to block the deal.”
Competition is quite fierce in the smartphone and TV market and the Motorola Mobility deal will allow Google to get a better “leg up” so to speak and have a bigger impact on the Android marketplace than just their operating system itself.
Do you think the Google/Motorola Mobility deal should be approved?