And now Microsoft is in the game...

A long while back in 2011, I wrote a post about Google's purchase of Motorola.  In the past couple of days came the news that 2 years later Microsoft has purchased the Nokia devices and services business.  If Google was late to the party back in 2011, Microsoft is going to have a hell of a time playing catch up in 2013.

Their much hyped Surface tablets did not quite strike a chord with customers and Microsoft is in a much different position than Google was back then.  In 2011 Google had a modestly successful Android operating system and was suffering from a fragmentation problem (still a bit of a problem, BTW).  Their acquisition of Motorola should lead to Google doing it's own manufacturing of phones that they can ensure run the latest and greatest version of their Android OS with all the best bells and whistles.  That may be just starting to happen now.  Although this won't solve the fragmentation problem, it will allow them to showcase Android.  Lately they've used deals with LG and ASUS to accomplish the same.

I don't think the problem with the Surface can have the same solution - purchasing a hardware manufacturer.  Unless this purchase allows them to create a better product at a less expensive price point, they are still going to have problems getting customers to buy into it.  If anything, the Surface proved that Microsoft is too late to attract customers with an overpriced, inferior product even if it ties in well with their desktop OS.

I, for one, am really interested to see if this acquisition can give Microsoft a boost in the mobile department but I really think the only way they are going to do that is by having a product that really wows its potential customers.  Enough so that they will switch (probably once again) to a whole different platform.