In a move that some mobility experts say will shake up the
industry, device maker Motorola has bought privately held mobile
email vendor Good Technology Inc.
Motorola's purchase of Good levels the playing field and will
spark intense competition in the device and mobile email markets.
The Motorola/Good pairing is poised to rival similar device and
software offerings from
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) and Nokia, which
rounded out its offerings late last year by purchasing
Intellisync, a maker of wireless email middleware.
According to Motorola, the deal will enhance its mobile
computing portfolio. Good Technology makes Good Mobile Messaging, a
mobile email offering that works on several mobile platforms and
operating systems and can be used on various devices, including
different versions of the Palm Treo and Motorola's own Q.
"The addition of Good Technology will advance Motorola's vision
of seamless mobility," Motorola mobile devices business president
Ron Garriques said in a statement. He added: "This acquisition will
continue to strengthen Motorola as a leading provider of mobility
devices and solutions both for enterprise customers and
consumers."
Jack Gold, president and founder of J. Gold Associates, a
Northborough, Mass.-based research and advisory firm, said the
purchase was Motorola's delayed reaction to Nokia's acquisition of
Intellisync. The deal, he said, will "dramatically reshape the
wireless email marketplace," giving Motorola enough of an edge to
compete with both Nokia and RIM.
In becoming a solid competitor, however, the Motorola/Good
partnership could leave some Good users in the dark, namely those
who use Good on Palm Treos, the core of Good's business.
"The acquisition will severely constrain a major relationship
that has put Good on the map -- the one with Palm and the Treo
devices, a very large part of Good's business," Gold said. "I do
not think Palm will be keen to open the kimono to Good for future
products."
For the many users of Palm Treos with Good Mobile Messaging,
this could mean limited device choice in the future, especially if
Good and Palm part ways when Motorola and Good finalize the deal
early next year.
"Good has to work closely with device makers to get their stuff
ported onto the machines," Gold said. "It is unlikely device makers
will be keen to show Good the new goods if they are part of
Motorola.
"But this equally puts pressure on Palm, as their leading email
app just got purchased by a competitor," Gold continued, later
adding, "I think this gives Palm more incentive to promote the
Windows platform over the Palm OS [because] Windows Mobile – at
least the latest versions – does not require a third-party client.
Also, [Microsoft] had a decent relationship with Good for older
Windows Mobile devices that needed the Good Technology to work in
wireless push mode."
Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart said users should not
worry in the short term.
"Motorola promises to ensure device diversity with the Good
Solution and, at least for the short- to medium-term horizon, there
is no reason to doubt their commitment to doing that," Greengart
said. "But the reason for a handset vendor to purchase an
email/middleware solution is to create an end-to-end ecosystem.
Right now, RIM is having unrivaled success with that -- mostly
homegrown -- business model."
Greengart noted, however, that building an end-to-end system via
acquisition is not always a slam dunk.
"Nokia has struggled to integrate the various pieces of its
Intellisync middleware and business handset offerings into a
package that effectively competes against RIM," he said. "I would
expect that, longer term, Motorola hopes to use Good to provide
seamless email capabilities for its mobile Linux offerings, which
could lessen Motorola's dependence on Microsoft."
Despite the potential for limited device choice, the acquisition
also gives Good users a more stable mobile email provider. Good,
which was privately held and never disclosed financials, was
rumored to be on shaky fiscal ground.
"Good users get a company with staying power and deep pockets,"
Gold said. "Good was not that well-funded. They had enough, but
certainly not the war chest of Moto."
Motorola users will get enhanced capability when Moto starts
loading Good clients on devices.
"But I am not sure it will really mean much, since users can get
the products now from Good," Gold said. "And the [Motorola] Q, for
example, already works with Microsoft Exchange using Direct Push --
though not older versions, nor does it work with Notes without a
third-party application like Good. This will only work with Moto
high-end machines like the Q, not the lower-end devices."
Gold said that overall the deal is a questionable move for
Motorola and is unlikely to help its device sales, and there is
uncertainty as to whether Motorola will be able to manage this type
of acquisition successfully, especially with its history of failed
purchases.
Earlier this year
Motorola purchased Symbol Technologies, a sign that the company
is looking to get deeper into the enterprise.
"The biggest effect will be on Palm, though not immediate," Gold
said. "This weakens them overall in the market and pushes them
closer to Microsoft. RIM gains another competitor with much deeper
pockets than Good had to promote their products. And Nokia now has
a strong competitor [that] can offer a complete solution, just like
they do with Intellisync."