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 telcodad
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ
kudos:2 | reply to miscDude
Re: [STB] Cisco thinking of getting out of the set-top box busin A follow-up blog item on the Light Reading Cable site today, on why Google may want to dump Motorola's STB business:
Why Google Will Dump Moto's Cable Biz
By Jeff Baumgartner, Light Reading Cable - March 8, 2012
»www.lightreading.com/blog.asp?bl···r_cable&
"2:05 PM -- If Google does indeed try to sell off Motorola Mobility Inc.'s set-top box business after the acquisition closes, why in the wide, wide world of sports would it stop there?
Moto's cable business also includes set-top modems, cable modem termination systems (CMTSs), edge QAMs, video servers and video software that's not Android. Does anyone really believe that Google, despite its interesting fiber experiment in mid-America, will want to hold on to any of that? I can't find anyone who does, despite Moto's defense of it.
As one cable insider put it to me: One of the big reasons why Motorola Mobility has kept the cable business around is because it's a short-term cash cow that's been funding its mobile handset business. "At Google, that motivation no longer matters. They have plenty of money," he says.
And besides not being a great fit at Google, Motorola's cable business probably doesn't have the kind of scale that's attractive to it. Moto's lumped-in cable business could pigeonhole a company that prefers to sell to the masses. While some cable guys like that Android might help them clear up their set-top box software issues, many in the industry simply don't trust Google, fearful that it will undermine what cable is trying to do on the set-top box.
From my discussions so far, there is widespread belief that Google is apt to saw off Moto's cable business and try to sell it off in whole or in parts, or just shut some stuff down.
The good news for Google is that it could find some buyers. Yesterday, we focused on some vendors that could help fill the gap with their existing set-top businesses. Today, here are some candidates that might flirt with buying part or all of Moto's cable business. (See: Is the Set-Top Duopoly on Its Deathbed? »www.lightreading.com/document.as···lr_cable )"
[Followed by the author's list and discussion of which companies may want to buy Moto's cable business.] | |
telcodad
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ
kudos:2 | A follow-up blog item on the Light Reading Cable site today, on a possible Motorola STB business purchase scenario:
Will Moto Go Back to the Future?
By Jeff Baumgartner, Light Reading Cable - March 9, 2012
»www.lightreading.com/blog.asp?bl···r_cable&
"4:45 PM -- We've outlined a few possible outcomes if Google should decide to sell all or part of its cable division, with some a bit more outlandish than others.
But there's another scenario involving a ghost of cable's past that's been circulating in recent weeks. It sounds not just outlandish, but maybe a little nutty. The scenario? How about Edward Breen swooping in to save Moto's entire cable business rather than seeing it chopped up and sold for parts?
Breen's already got a pretty good job. He's the chairman and CEO of Tyco International Ltd., which he joined in 2002. Before that he was the president and CEO of Motorola Inc., joining them in 2000 when Moto got into the cable business in a meaningful way via its acquisition of General Instrument Corp. (GI), where Breen was chairman, president and CEO -- the king, basically.
There are some different ways he could go about it. The less complicated path would see him leaving Tyco and rounding up some investors to make a play for Moto's cable division, which Google is expected to unload.
Or, he could stay with Tyco and make his play from there. But that one's a bit more of a tangled mess. It got a little less messy last November when Breen resigned from the Comcast Corp. board in part because he's also on the board of ADT Security Services Inc., a unit of Tyco's that creates an apparent conflict with Comcast's budding Xfinity Home business." | |
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