Rivals to benefit from Google's Motorola buy

Whilst Nokia could benefit from Google’s purchase of Motorola Mobility, RIM may not reap the same rewards.

Industry analysts are predicting a ripple affect beyond the Android world following Google’s announcement to buy the Motorola Mobility unit for $12.5bn.

Nokia will find itself at an advantage, as Google’s acquisition of an Android hardware vendor will draw phone makers to Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform.

According to the analyst as Nokia moved to Windows Phone early, they may have the edge over other vendors.

"Nokia benefits because Microsoft's Windows Phone suddenly looks like a much more viable operating system," said Avi Greengart, research director for consumer devices at Current Analysis.

Whilst RIM’s stock did climb to 9.4 per cent – following speculation over the value of the company’s patents (Patent holdings are said to have played a roll in Google’s decision) - it still drags its sagging hardware business with it.

Ken Dulaney, VP at Gartner believes this could limit which hardware vendors would look at buying up RIM. However, not all would agree.

An analyst from Sterne Agee thinks the disruption to the Android market could benefit RIM as HTC and Samsung may feel alienated (due to lock down in patent protection for Android.).

Also – there are concerns about the power of Google and Apple as mobile phone suppliers – could RIM become the strong third contender?

Analysts do say that RIM’s efforts to re-establish its hardware lines and transition to the QNX platform far outweigh any impact from the Google deal.

So, whilst looking to Nokia as the obvious benefactor, don’t rule out the opportunities coming to RIM.