Reborn Entrepreneurial Giant.

Chapter 456 Difficult decision

Google and Honor contacted Motorola one after another, but there was no offer. Then Qu Li met with Google CEO Larry Page to formally discuss 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 and Samsung. Therefore, after acquiring Motorola, some media in the United States predicted that it would be transferred to Chinese companies.

The professional capabilities of the American financial media are trustworthy. Google later sold the remaining assets of Motorola Mobility to an idea for US$29 billion.

Now with Glory involved, things don't get any more complicated.

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

"We see it that way too." Larry Page was very ambitious when he first took charge of Google.

"Patents are the hardest to divide. Let's not talk about that for now. We only want the mobile phone business and patents. 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 a factory, the promotion of Android TV needs glory..."

"But we have no plans to do TV business, and we don't want to add more trouble to this acquisition." Qu Li means that he doesn't want any more sensitive businesses. Okay, this is a bit 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 US streaming media terminal market, with a market value of no more than US$100 billion.

It looks good, but the relationship between China and the United States is like the weather in June - it changes at any time.Why should Qu Li stimulate them too much?

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

Larry Page and the others had a discussion, but no conclusion was reached on this matter, and they continued to talk about the distribution of Motorola's other businesses.It's clear that Google has Motorola in its sights.

If Honor and Google compete for Motorola, they will definitely not win. The most they will do is push up the acquisition price, which will disgust Google, but they will continue to cooperate in the future.

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

Google has not launched GMS at this time. 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 is considered estranged. If this continues, Google will just make a wedding dress for Honor, paying a lot but making no money.

But Honor already has the qualifications to start its own business at this time. It is not easy to say that it is a piece of cake to build a branched open source project based on AOSP, at least it is not impossible.So, just like Google doesn’t dare to force Samsung to compromise, it also doesn’t 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, rather than killing the goose that lays the eggs." When you reach Qu Li's position, you must consider the pros and cons. This is not a world where China sets the rules of the game. If you want to make money in the United States, Just abide by their laws and rules of the game.

Although Google has a relatively high bottom line of excellence, it is an American company after all. To say that they are pure and kind, Qu Li doesn't believe it anyway.If we really want to ditch Google and go it alone, we still don’t know how many holes and how many minefields it will dig for Honor.But KOS will never give up. To ensure that Honor takes the initiative to release new phones, it must have its own operating system and chips.

Qu Li and Larry Page exchanged their thoughts candidly. First of all, they determined that there are no restrictions on the Chinese market. Honor wants to use KOS and Android at will. Google is most concerned about the European, American, Japanese and Korean markets.

"This is what I think. The Honor G series flagship phones 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 opportunity." Another unspoken reason is more obvious. Android is more free and flexible.

"This reason is not enough." Larry Page is not that simple. Although he also thinks that Microsoft Windows Phone is not something to be afraid of, he does not want to give them a chance.

"KOS, Android and Windows Phone, Honor must have a focus. One day, we will not give up Android even if we give up KOS, unless Google takes the initiative..." Qu Li raised the stakes. They were discussing the international market, which is impossible in China. Honor Android phone.Therefore, companies like Microsoft are truly terrifying, and glory is unavoidable.

"Whether it is an Android device or KOS, install the Google App Store..."

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

"Google App Store can adopt the same standards as KOS."

Google has a revenue sharing agreement with Android phone manufacturers, which requires pre-installed Google search and app stores. Samsung received $35 billion, and later Apple received $30 billion a year for pre-installing Google search.In 2022, the App Store's share to developers will be US$600 billion, and Google Play's annual revenue will be approximately US$100 billion.

The conflict of interests is very annoying, but Qu Li can't calculate these figures accurately. When the two of them discuss together, there will definitely be a result, and they will not worry about "petty gains".

Google not only wants Honor KOS to install Google Search and Google App Store, but also wants Honor to stop subsidizing developers. How much subsidy to give to Honor is second. Anyway, it must have the principle of non-discrimination and 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 made explicit.

So how to acquire Motorola and how much did it cost?The two companies have different needs and offer different prices. It is difficult to determine the sincerity of Google's so-called compensation.

Qu Li needs Motorola's brand, channels and patents, and Google needs patents and technology to develop its own brand of mobile phones and set-top box Android TV.Neither company wants factories, so as a compromise, Honor will take over the factories in the Asia-Pacific region and leave the rest to Google.

"What's the purchase price for Motorola?" Qu Li asked the key, and he knew the answer after two units.

"$125 billion." Larry Page

The next step is to allocate assets and negotiate prices. The set-top box business is estimated at US$25 billion. Motorola still has US$30 billion in cash. The Apple-Microsoft Alliance acquired more than 45 patents from Nortel Networks for US$6000 billion. Motorola has 1.7 patents, estimated at 50 A billion dollars isn't too much, right?Is Motorola's brand, channels, factories and teams only worth US$20 billion?

Let's divide the patents. Google must take priority, but the needs of the two companies are similar.

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

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

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

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