HTC Better Off Between Rock And Hard Place Than Where They're At Now

HTC is going to continue selling a lot of Android devices.  The problem for HTC and other Android device makers like Samsung is that they don't know what Google plans on doing despite Google's public explanations for Motorola's purchases and assurances that almost nothing will change.

And today, HTC's Peter Chou, as far as I know, gave the most public statement about the Google-Motorola Mobility merger than anyone one else.  He think it's good for the Android ecosystem because now Google has some patents.

I'm not so sure.

Google already has plans to integrate Motorola's phones more tightly with Google's services.  And it's likely to enforce that against other Android makers.  And then there's the possibility that Google could make patent cross-licensing a condition to continue to use Android as it is now, unaltered.

For the foreseeable future, it's not like there will be a dramatic change in the mobile landscape.  But slowly, things could change.  Consider what happened when Steve Jobs returned to Apple at a time when there were Mac OS licensees.

Overtime, Apple killed them all off after they decided it was not a strategy worth pursuing.

With Motorola, Google will come out with Nexus-like devices without calling them so.  Anyone else would just be playing catch-up.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing.  Android device makers have been competing with one another for since 2007.  The only difference is that HTC, Samsung, LG, Sony and others will be competing with Google phones, not Motorola phones.

Source:  Mashable.