Google: Will its smartphones sing after HTC deal?

There is an opportunity there for the company, but its past dalliances with hardware have met with mixed results

Google has struck a deal with smartphone maker HTC (REUTERS)

Can Google make its hardware sing like Apple's does?

The search giant has just napped a chunk of ailing smartphone maker HTC, taking on 2,000 or so engineers and some intellectual property in return from kicking $1.1bn over to help keep the latter’s show on the road.

HTC once made a noise with its smartphones, only to join the growing list of manufacturers that have faded into irrelevance.

Some analysts have been rather scratching their heads over the precise detail of what it is Alphabet, the holding company for Google, but a name almost no one bothers to use, has bought.

But there is no doubt about its aims. Google wants to make a noise with its devices, and it wants to do the work in house, rather than contracting wth outsiders, as it has done before.

If it can do that, it will be able to draw more people into its tech ecosystem, so it can mine their data to customise ads to them and flog them other services while it's at it.

Analysts don’t really expect to see the company trying to mimic Apple, which keeps tight control of its operating system and the technology that runs on it. Android, which is used by a bewildering array of devices, will likely remain available for use by the wider market.

But you might expect to see Google seeking to grab a competitive edge for future Pixel phones by using them to debut and showcase innovations.

It faces a double challenge, however. It has to persuade the public of the merits of its kit, in the way that Apple has, to the extent that the latter is comfortable with charging £1000 for the whizziest edition of its signature product.

But before that can happen, it also has to make its new engineers feel loved.

Richard Windsor, an analyst for Edison, has a interesting take on that. He points out that this is Google’s fourth hardware transaction. The earlier ones included Motorola’s smartphone business, which was then flipped to Chinese outfit Lenovo, less some patents Google wanted.

There was also Nest Labs (wifi enabled thermostats, smoke detectors and security equipment) and Dropcam (wifi video streaming cameras).

A diverse bag of companies, but Mr Windsor notes something in common with all three deals.

“Firstly, all of the acquired companies have felt great discomfort being owned by a company that does not really understand hardware. The result was infighting and a failure to use Google’s strengths to increase market share of the products in question. Secondly, in each case the real beneficiaries of the transactions were the owners of the assets being sold.”

Leaving Google shareholders worse off as a result.

Will this deal be any different? Google is nothing if not smart. You would think, therefore, that it will be able to learn from its previous mistakes.

If it can do that there is a clear opportunity for the company, assuming it can produce something the public latch on to. Apple is apparently happy to risk abandoning the mass market. There will come a point when all but the most devoted of fanbois, and status symbol hungry corporate executives, will say no to its pricing strategy.

If Pixel can offer a similarly winning experience, one that also puts its nose in front of Samsung, and if it can also capture the zeitgeist (so think style) at a less eye watering price than the iPhone, then no one will remember those earlier deals.

But to do that, Google will first have to offer a winning experience to HTC's engineers.