Research Brief
Apple Licenses Mac OS to Motorola
Apple Computer announced a broad ranging licensing agreement with Motorola that will allow Motorola to sell and sub-license the Macintosh operating system to other computer makers. Motorola will license the current Mac OS 7.5 and upcoming Copland operating system for use with its PowerPC architecture. Motorola will supply motherboards and complete systems to other computer vendors wishing to sell Macintosh compatible systems. In this manner, Motorola can sub-license the Mac OS to vendors without the need for direct licensing from each OEM supplier and Apple. Apple's new President and CEO Gilbert Amelio said the licensing deal with Motorola is a big step in Apple's goal of becoming more aggressive in granting Macintosh OS licenses. Apple is currently the volume leader in sales of PowerPC based systems.
Analysis
As Apple undergoes its company wide restructuring under the leadership of Gilbert Amelio, Workgroup Strategic Services expects further announcements regarding strategic partners. Apple will continue to pursue licensing agreements for its Mac OS, clone production agreements for the manufacturing of PCs and agreements providing Internet solutions.
Increasing its production of motherboards and systems for the PowerPC is crucial for Motorola to achieve greater economies of scale in order to compete with Intel. As Motorola's main partners in the PowerPC Platform, IBM and Apple, have failed to capture any significant market share for the PowerPC, Motorola finds itself courting partners to provide a wider range of compatible systems.