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Cyanogen Inc. Turns Down Google, Seeing $1 Billion Valuation
An anonymous reader writes: According to a report at The Information (paywalled), Cyanogen Inc., the company trying to commercializa the popular CyanogenMod mobile OS based on Android, recently met with Google's Android chief to talk about an acquisition. The report says Cyanogen turned down Google's offer and instead seeks funding from investors and major tech companies at a valuation around $1 billion. "Cyanogen has told potential investors that it has a deal in place to bring its custom version of the Android OS to India through a manufacturer called Micromax. Alongside Samsung, Micromax currently holds almost as much share of the smartphone market in India, making this deal a very large step to get Cyanogen into the hands of millions of more people. Lastly, the report claims that Cyanogen should be wary of modifying Android too much. During the process, the company must continue to follow Google's compatibility requirements which ensure third-party applications will work on their devices. If those requirements are not met, devices will not be licensed to run Google's services, such as Google Play and other Google applications."
CyanogenMod being open source, what is the value of such a company ? Once bought by Google, anybody could fork CyanogenMod...
When do they set up a "Cyanogen store"?
Even without Cyanogenmod, Android phones work just fine without Google services. At first power-up, there's a "sign up/log in" screen, with a "Later" option. Click "Later" and go on.
You can disable the "Google One-Time Startup" app to keep it from bothering you again.
> That was my first thought. Google either wants to kill it or neuter it.
Even if they didn't, the internal pressure to do that once acquired would have been enormous.
CM doesnt come with google play by default, and Google has been working to modularize (and therefore make available to CM) a huge number of its stock "pieces" (like the camera, play services, etc).
I feel like everyone in this thread has no idea what theyre talking about. What threat do you suppose CM represents to Google? You're still using Play, and if you arent, why should google care whether you use a de-Play'd AOSP or a Winphone? Mindshare is mindshare.
That was my first thought. Google either wants to kill it or neuter it.
Actually, from what I see Google takes care to ensure the CM and similar efforts can continue to grow and thrive. This is why all Nexus devices are unlocked or unlockable, and why Google encourages OEMs to keep their devices open, too (with limited success).
I'm skeptical of the article's claim that Google was interested in acquiring CM. I just don't see the point... CM's whole value to Google is because it's independent, both of Google and of other parties in the ecosystem (OEMs, carriers, etc.).
(Disclaimer: I'm an Android engineer at Google, but I'm speaking only for myself.)
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Their whole business model depends on you running their spyware apps.
Actually, most of their Android business model depends on you buying stuff on Play. I won't quote any numbers because I'm not sure if Google releases them, but Google's cut of app, movies, music and book sales is getting to be pretty significant. Google also makes plenty from mobile advertising, of course, but that doesn't really depend on you using Google's apps, since, as I understand it, most of the advertising revenue comes from (a) mobile search and (b) advertising embedded in third-party apps (AdMob).
Oh, and do you have any evidence that Google's apps spy on you? I know that they don't. Google search history is tracked, same as on desktop, but you can opt out of that either through Google's opt-out tools, or by switching to a different search engine. Location tracking is entirely under your control. Gmail is used for targeted advertising, if you use gmail. And... that's it. Oh, maybe Google+ is mined for keywords, but I don't think so, and in any case you can just not use Google+.
(Disclaimer: I'm a Google engineer, but I'm speaking for myself.)
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
So does Xposed, and far deeper than CM ever contemplated.
More likely Google is looking at CM because CM effectively helps to solve the Android "fragmentation" problem, namely getting the latest version onto devices where the manufacturers drop support prematurely. All they'd have to do is officially brand CM as their "Android legacy support" service and just kinda step back.
Log in or piss off.
Out of curiosity, if Cyanogenmod were bought for $1 billion, who would get the money? The executives and officers who manage the open source company? Would the developers who contribute to the project for free see any of it?