Top Mobile Acquisitions of 2010

HP and Palm

After struggling for years to determine a mobile strategy, HP finally made a definitive move by acquiring struggling platform vendor Palm for $1.2 billion. Palm, once the darling of the smartphone/PDA market, wooed HP with its innovative webOs, and could help HP expand its mobile offerings from devices (like the tablet expected in March) to enterprise apps. After struggling for years to determine a mobile strategy, HP finally made a definitive move by acquiring struggling platform vendor Palm for $1.2 billion. Palm, once the darling of the smartphone/PDA market, wooed HP with its innovative webOs, and could help HP expand its mobile offerings from devices (like the tablet expected in March) to enterprise apps. After struggling for years to determine a mobile strategy, HP finally made a definitive move by acquiring struggling platform vendor Palm for $1.2 billion. Palm, once the darling of the smartphone/PDA market, wooed HP with its innovative webOs, and could help HP expand its mobile offerings from devices (like the tablet expected in March) to enterprise apps.

SAP and SybaseSAP made a huge and definitive move snapping up mobile enterprise player Sybase. Combined with Sybase’s tried and tested mobile enterprise dev platform and infrastructure, it brings an MSP business focused on mobile banking and commerce to the table. Watch to see SAP fight off new and non-traditional competitors as it figures out how all the pieces fit together.

Google and AdMob

Okay, okay – the acquisition was announced near the end of ‘09, but took a long time to go through, finally being approved in May because of an Apple move (see next slide). The mobile ad platform spelled big bucks paid ($750M) for the search giant, but a ton of opportunity (and cash) to be captured in 2011.

Apple and Quattro Wireless

In 2010, Apple got into the mobile ad space, scoring but at a low price tag of $275 million, compared to the $700 million-plus Google paid for competitor AdMob. Mobile advertising is supposedly the wave of the future, and Apple got a solid platform and a list of customers like P&G, Disney, Netflix and Viacom.

Google and Zetawire

Zetawire, the most recent of Google’s mobile acquisitions, shows the search giant is looking at mobile commerce as crucial to its future. Zetawire holds a slew of NFC-based (near field communications) patents for mobile banking, advertising, credit card processing and more. That means your Android phone becomes a cash machine for companies providing mobile commerce options in 2011 or 2012.

Google and…um…

The search giant has made no secret of its plans for mobile domination, and its 2010 M&A strategy was focused on everything mobile and social. Many of its mobile acquisitions focused on improving Android functionality – like visual mobile search provider PlinkArt, and music synching techie firm Simplify Media as well as Touch Typing and Bump—and the list goes on and on…

HP and Palm

After struggling for years to determine a mobile strategy, HP finally made a definitive move by acquiring struggling platform vendor Palm for $1.2 billion. Palm, once the darling of the smartphone/PDA market, wooed HP with its innovative webOs, and could help HP expand its mobile offerings from devices (like the tablet expected in March) to enterprise apps. After struggling for years to determine a mobile strategy, HP finally made a definitive move by acquiring struggling platform vendor Palm for $1.2 billion. Palm, once the darling of the smartphone/PDA market, wooed HP with its innovative webOs, and could help HP expand its mobile offerings from devices (like the tablet expected in March) to enterprise apps. After struggling for years to determine a mobile strategy, HP finally made a definitive move by acquiring struggling platform vendor Palm for $1.2 billion. Palm, once the darling of the smartphone/PDA market, wooed HP with its innovative webOs, and could help HP expand its mobile offerings from devices (like the tablet expected in March) to enterprise apps.

SAP and SybaseSAP made a huge and definitive move snapping up mobile enterprise player Sybase. Combined with Sybase’s tried and tested mobile enterprise dev platform and infrastructure, it brings an MSP business focused on mobile banking and commerce to the table. Watch to see SAP fight off new and non-traditional competitors as it figures out how all the pieces fit together.

Google and AdMob

Okay, okay – the acquisition was announced near the end of ‘09, but took a long time to go through, finally being approved in May because of an Apple move (see next slide). The mobile ad platform spelled big bucks paid ($750M) for the search giant, but a ton of opportunity (and cash) to be captured in 2011.

Apple and Quattro Wireless

In 2010, Apple got into the mobile ad space, scoring but at a low price tag of $275 million, compared to the $700 million-plus Google paid for competitor AdMob. Mobile advertising is supposedly the wave of the future, and Apple got a solid platform and a list of customers like P&G, Disney, Netflix and Viacom.

Google and Zetawire

Zetawire, the most recent of Google’s mobile acquisitions, shows the search giant is looking at mobile commerce as crucial to its future. Zetawire holds a slew of NFC-based (near field communications) patents for mobile banking, advertising, credit card processing and more. That means your Android phone becomes a cash machine for companies providing mobile commerce options in 2011 or 2012.

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