• Slate, Wednesday, August 17, 2011 3:12 PM

It was clear from the moment the news broke that Google's bid to buy Motorola Mobility would change Android. Still, having had a few days to digest the deal, Slate's Farhad Manjoo paints a sharper picture of Google's new mobile outlook.

"In the aftermath of this deal, Google will seek to exert greater influence over hardware companies," he expects. Why? Because, if the deal goes through, Google will have dropped an astounding $12.5 billion on its mobile strategy. "Now Google has to find a way to recoup at least $12.5 billion from Android (on top of whatever else it was investing to build the OS)," Manjoo writes. Along with ad revenue, therefore, Google with most likely start selling Anroid-powered devices at higher margins.

"This, of course, is how Apple makes money." Over time, Manjoo predicts that Google will reduce the number of new Android devices that are released, and increasingly shy away from lower-quality, lower-cost models. Possible unintended consequences include Android device makers fleeing for, say, Windows, as well as Android losing evermore market share.

Read the whole story at Slate »