• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Breaking News-Its Official: Motorola mobility being sold to Lenovo

Rxpert83

Dr. Feelgood
Aug 30, 2011
17,908
13,152
MN
Apparently we could hear an official announcement very soon, but it looks like Google is getting rid of Motorola's mobile arm.

the verge said:
Google initially bought Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion back in 2012, but it said at the time that it was mainly interested in the company's patent portfolio. Now, it appears that Google is offloading at least its subsidiary's handset business, which has been losing hundreds of millions each quarter since the purchase. Google previously sold off Motorola's set-top box unit for over $2 billion.

Thoughts? It looked like Google was really turning motorola around, but now they may be cutting ties. I'm interested to see what this means for the direction they were going with devices like the motoX moving forward.

Sources:
Google Will Reportedly Sell Motorola Mobility To Lenovo, Say Multiple Sources
Lenovo nears $3 billion deal to buy Google's Motorola unit | Reuters
Lenovo to buy Motorola business for $2 billion|Top News|chinadaily.com.cn
Google to sell Motorola to Lenovo, say reports | The Verge
 
  • Like
Reactions: funkylogik
Thoughts? Confusion, mostly. I had been really impressed with Motorola as a company in the past few months after they had worked through the backlog of ho-hum and started cranking out the innovative and market-shaking (Moto G and Moto X, primarily). Google invested significant money, time, and personnel in Motorola, and we were just now starting to see the fruits of that. Why ditch it (for a loss) now? I don't get it.
 
Upvote 0
It sounds like Google is keeping most of the Moto patents, which is what many believe they were ultimately after when they first purchased motorola.

As much as this is the pits, it finally gets rid of all of those questions with how well google is maintaining their separation with Moto and not playing favourites with manufacturers.
 
Upvote 0
Larry Page explains why on the Official Google Blog
We’ve just signed an agreement to sell Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91 billion. As this is an important move for Android users everywhere, I wanted to explain why in detail.

We acquired Motorola in 2012 to help supercharge the Android ecosystem by creating a stronger patent portfolio for Google and great smartphones for users. Over the past 19 months, Dennis Woodside and the Motorola team have done a tremendous job reinventing the company. They’ve focused on building a smaller number of great (and great value) smartphones that consumers love. Both the Moto G and the Moto X are doing really well, and I’m very excited about the smartphone lineup for 2014. And on the intellectual property side, Motorola’s patents have helped create a level playing field, which is good news for all Android’s users and partners.

But the smartphone market is super competitive, and to thrive it helps to be all-in when it comes to making mobile devices. It’s why we believe that Motorola will be better served by Lenovo—which has a rapidly growing smartphone business and is the largest (and fastest-growing) PC manufacturer in the world. This move will enable Google to devote our energy to driving innovation across the Android ecosystem, for the benefit of smartphone users everywhere. As a side note, this does not signal a larger shift for our other hardware efforts. The dynamics and maturity of the wearable and home markets, for example, are very different from that of the mobile industry. We’re excited by the opportunities to build amazing new products for users within these emerging ecosystems.

Lenovo has the expertise and track record to scale Motorola into a major player within the Android ecosystem. They have a lot of experience in hardware, and they have global reach. In addition, Lenovo intends to keep Motorola’s distinct brand identity—just as they did when they acquired ThinkPad from IBM in 2005. Google will retain the vast majority of Motorola’s patents, which we will continue to use to defend the entire Android ecosystem.

The deal has yet to be approved in the U.S. or China, and this usually takes time. So until then, it’s business as usual. I’m phenomenally impressed with everything the Motorola team has achieved and confident that with Lenovo as a partner, Motorola will build more and more great products for people everywhere.

Posted by Larry Page, CEO
 
Upvote 0
Can i ask what a pokadex is?

Sorry about that...

substitutions.png


This Chrome extension is a lot of fun, but it can make the copy-pasta a bit confusing.
 
Upvote 0
I would rather Google just spinout Motorola than sell it to Lenovo. Lenovo does not have a similar history to what Motorola has been doing lately (fewer devices, focus on usability and thinner margins to lower pricing).

To that point, this doesn't even make financial sense for Google unless it is a cash deal and Google is loading up to buy someone big (see Snapchat recent acquisition discussions).
 
Upvote 0
I would rather Google just spinout Motorola than sell it to Lenovo. Lenovo does not have a similar history to what Motorola has been doing lately (fewer devices, focus on usability and thinner margins to lower pricing).

To that point, this doesn't even make financial sense for Google unless it is a cash deal and Google is loading up to buy someone big (see Snapchat recent acquisition discussions).
Moto has been losing Google hundreds of millions since they purchased them. If all they were after is the patents, why take the loss every quarter that comes with selling phones?
 
Upvote 0
Moto has been losing Google hundreds of millions since they purchased them. If all they were after is the patents, why take the loss every quarter that comes with selling phones?

That's exactly why Google should keep Motorola. Google makes hundreds of millions in profits every quarter with the write down of the losses from Motorola. If you are a highly profitable company (which Google has been for years before Motorola and appears to be for years forward), to own a separate entity to lower taxes on profits is a common and not terrible practice
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rxpert83
Upvote 0
I'm not a Motorola fan, so it's no big deal to me personally. But what possible ramifications of this are you afraid of?

The patent portfolio bought to fend off patent trolls is going away in the deal. Google has been pulling back Android features already.

Lenovo doesn't have a good track record of maintaining quality after buying quality conscious companies.

Manufacturing in the US will vaporize along with the jobs.

Motorola had been promising the modular phone (think: Legos), that was a threat to other phone makers. Write that one off.

Google maintained handset experience with the Nexus line and despite any organization charts, through Motorola. Google is rumored to be ready to stop making Nexus phones by 2015 and having only Google Play Experience phones made by others.

Larry Page is not Android's friend. I've been saying it since he started in and no one on these forums has listened.

Android is about to equal Samsung and I don't care who I piss off - Samsung screws up a lot of Android and does a lot wrong. Flat wrong.

Welcome to the new iOS.
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones