Google Android is Google's "Best Deal Ever"

[WenWM]

Here is something I just learned today, Android was not originally a Google project. It was apparently made by a different company that Google acquired in a deal which was estimated around 50 Million dollars in cash, which compared to the value of Android today is a great deal. Well this all took place in 2005 and with Android now being one of the most profitable and greatest successes for Google, their VP say the Android deal was the "best deal ever." Now this makes total sense because I mean almost all the latest and greatest devices run on Android and with that comes a growth for almost all Google services, most notable Gmail.

While this makes me feel bad for the company that sold Android to Google, I am quite happy it happened. I am very sure Android would never have reached these heights without Google’s direct involvement. Android have might just be like any other Mobile OS that comes out these days… Pointless.

What do you think of that? Do you think Android would have been this big without Google? Let us know below
News Via: Engadget

 

[Sayid]

I definitely agree! I feel that while the original developers of Android may have lost out a bit, they would never have had the funds to take Android to the level of popularity it is at right now! The integration of Google services is what really separated Android from the pack of smart phone OSs for me.

I have always been a fan of Google because not only do they do a lot of stuff for free, but they do it right. Google Docs was one of their best creations IMHO; it allows my high school peers and I to collaborate on the monthly newspaper with ease. With Android I am able to text for free with Google Voice, I have navigation, Calendar, Gmail, and many other useful applications!

Having an Android without Google would be like having a car without wheels--great invention, but you need something to get it going!

 

[kodiak799]

Synergies. The value of Google's brand and its resources is what leverages a $100M company into billions.

Somehow I doubt the founders of the company sold for $50M really have much to cry about. Then again, they probably had VC money to pay off and only saw less than half that.

The Google brand behind Android has had a lot to do with its success. Even then, Google still had to create the N1 arguably to really give Android the momentum it needed.

In an ideal world, the founders would want to stay onboard and get a stake in the upside. And quite possibly they did.

Regardless, Google has had its share of misteps as they've tried to expand the breadth and depth of their revenue sources. But Android is a homerun.

 

[_Killer_]

You know, I seem to remember back in 05 maybe even 06 talk of a "new operating system" for phones.. Fairly certain it was Android.. What I remember most was this operating system was "supposed" to allow you to carry that device with any network, it was going to change the cellular world...

I wonder if that originally was the goal for android, pre google.. ??

 

[EvilDobe]

It's stuff like this that make me cringe EVERY day that I didn't buy the Google stock I wanted back in 2003............ when it was $93 a share (its at 618.58 right now). Outside of GoogleWave... they are nothing but great ideas.

 

[kodiak799]

It's stuff like this that make me cringe EVERY day that I didn't buy the Google stock I wanted back in 2003............ when it was $93 a share (its at 618.58 right now). Outside of GoogleWave... they are nothing but great ideas.

Man, you and me both. I might dive in. It's looking like MS or Oracle back in the day.

I said for years it was overvalued - "priced to perfection", as they say. I called a serious short on it years ago when they came out with a confusing new strategy. Forget what, exactly, but it had all the makings of struggling to meet lofty revenue expectations and deviating from its core business model.

Now though? I honestly think the only thing stopping Google at some point down the road is the DOJ.

I think you really have to like VZW, too, with LTE and FIOS.