Google & Microsoft agree to global ceasefire in regulatory battles
Two of Apple's chief rivals, Google and Microsoft, on Friday announced a mutual agreement to drop regulatory complaints against each other around the world, further promising to try and settle any disputes themselves before using governments as a weapon.
"Microsoft has agreed to withdraw its regulatory complaints against Google, reflecting our changing legal priorities," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement obtained by Re/code. Google made a similar comment, suggesting it would compete on the merit of its products.
Microsoft added that it isn't taking a position on the European Commission's antitrust charges against Google, which have accused it of hampering competition in some of its Android licensing terms. Microsoft was once a member of FairSearch and ICOMP, two groups that filed antitrust complaints against Google, but is now out of both organizations.
The switch in policies may be attributable to Google and Microsoft's latest leaders, Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella, who appear to have adopted a more friendly stance than their predecessors. Microsoft in particular has adopted a multi-platform strategy, including developing more apps for iOS, Android, and Mac, not just Windows devices.
In September 2015 the two companies halted 20 patent lawsuits against each other in the U.S. and Germany, among them Motorola-related disputes.
"Microsoft has agreed to withdraw its regulatory complaints against Google, reflecting our changing legal priorities," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement obtained by Re/code. Google made a similar comment, suggesting it would compete on the merit of its products.
Microsoft added that it isn't taking a position on the European Commission's antitrust charges against Google, which have accused it of hampering competition in some of its Android licensing terms. Microsoft was once a member of FairSearch and ICOMP, two groups that filed antitrust complaints against Google, but is now out of both organizations.
The switch in policies may be attributable to Google and Microsoft's latest leaders, Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella, who appear to have adopted a more friendly stance than their predecessors. Microsoft in particular has adopted a multi-platform strategy, including developing more apps for iOS, Android, and Mac, not just Windows devices.
In September 2015 the two companies halted 20 patent lawsuits against each other in the U.S. and Germany, among them Motorola-related disputes.
Comments
If Apple can get their act together and provide unique content for iTunes while building out their own cloud services, they can potentially grow much more. Apple is now at the fore front of technology. Samsung and LG are leaders in certain aspects of building hardware, but Apple has access to them.
If Samsung and LG decided to collaborate, they could drop Android and develop Tizen into a better OS. Since those two make the best hardware, they could drive the adoption of an alternative mobile OS.
Neither MSFT nor Google are proficient in building hardware and both are going to find themselves out competed by those that do. It's already happening.
Of course that's a non-starter.
Glicroste?
Gimloogost?
Miglost?
Any way you look at it, these companies are nasty.
And stupid.
They've had 16yrs to bring added value re Apple but just. Can't. Make.... it....,
Facebook's growth doesn't much affect Google as they do not directly compete against each other and most companies advertise on both. Advertisers have been able to spend on five broadcast networks and a slew of cable channels - who all do directly compete against each other - for decades yet "there can be only one" between Facebook and Google? That's rich. Especially when you consider that Google is a search engine. So if Google goes away, who takes over as the leading search engine? Yahoo, who has been failing for years and is up for sale, with Google among the prospective buyers? Or Bing, which has had 4 name changes in its 8 years of existence and has never turned a profit?
And why would Samsung and LG collaborate? They have been bitter rivals for decades - long before Apple even existed - and in far more product lines than smartphones. Each one would rather the other be forced to exist the mobile business than work together. Also, Tizen could be the best OS in the world - and it actually is a good OS - but their problem will always be app support. Their first party apps and services are horrible and they would get absolutely no support from third party developers at all. If Microsoft couldn't entice developers to contribute to their app store, what makes you think that Samsung and LG could?
Google and Microsoft aren't proficient at building hardware because they are software companies. So, are all software companies going to disappear before hardware companies, or just Google and Microsoft? Also, just 10 years ago everyone was saying that software was the present and future and hardware was yesterday. The iPhone changed all that - for Apple anyway as IBM, HP, Sony, GE, Sharp and a bunch of other electronics giants are struggling and some no longer even exist - but for all we know 10 years from now the software companies will be back on top. It isn't that hard to imagine how: cloud computing and ultra-broadband networks could make hardware almost meaningless. With 5G offering 10 gigabit/s speeds, it will be possible to run most applications - not just apps but large applications - on remote servers and the device - whether it's a Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, VR or IoT - would just be for UI. But ultimately, all Microsoft, Google and the other software companies have to do is make good products on whatever hardware platforms exist. Microsoft has been doing that for 40 years and Google for nearly 20 and there is no reason to think that they are going to all of a sudden stop, just as people aren't going to all of a sudden no longer need application solutions on all that fantastic Apple hardware.