Motorola continues acquisition spree with Good Technology purchase

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Motorola has bought Good Technology, in a move that is likely to bolster the mobile giant's efforts to steal favour in a market currently dominated by Research in Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry device.

The company says that the acquisition is a strategic play by its Mobile Devices business and will increase its presence in the enterprise space.

Good Technology, which boasts a customer base of some 12,000 businesses, is popular with mobile professionals who make use of its wireless messaging, data access and handheld security offerings.

The two companies already have a small history of working together as the Motorola Q phone runs Good Technology's Good Mobile Messaging software.

This is the second strategic acquisition Motorola has made in as many months.

In September, it bought Symbol Technologies for $3.9 billion to boost its vertical presence and enterprise capabilities.

Last month, analyst IDC predicted that Motorola and fellow device manufacturer Nokia would prove strong contenders for RIM's throne.

Motorola's alliance with software giant Microsoft positions it well to take a chunk of RIM's share of a market expected to top 63 million unit shipments by 2010, IDC said at the time.

"Several BlackBerry clones have previously attempted to challenge RIM's reign in the enterprise market, but this is a more formidable strike," said Sean Ryan, research analyst for IDC's Mobile Markets.

"The timing is right for a more powerful attack against RIM's BlackBerry as competitive forces converge. Nokia is offering an end-to-end solution of its own, while Motorola and Palm, among others, are leveraging Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0 and Microsoft Exchange."

The Good Technology deal is also expected to be completed by early next year although the financial terms of the arrangement have not been made public.

"The addition of Good Technology will advance Motorola's vision of seamless mobility," said Ron Garriques, president of Motorola Mobile Devices business.

"Good Technology's solutions, talent and customers complement Motorola's business and extend our ability to deliver compelling products and services to enterprise customers."

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