Google to Sell Motorola Handset Business to Lenovo

Sasqui · Jan 30, 2014

Unbelievable. They paid $12.4 billion to Motorola for the division 2 years ago, now selling it for $2.9 billion. Google is keeping the patent portfolio though. Lenovo is going to be in the smartphone business.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/01/30/google-sell-motorola-smartphone-business-lenovo/

DRDNA · Jan 30, 2014

I am almost certain this was their plan right from the beginning. They really just wanted control over the patents.

Nordic · Jan 30, 2014

The Motorola employees must feel like a used towel.

Frick · Jan 30, 2014

Lenovo is buying everything. I like Lenovo, this shall be interesting.

Sasqui · Jan 30, 2014

james888 said:
The Motorola employees must feel like a used towel.

No kidding... what's left of them

Frick said:
Lenovo is buying everything. I like Lenovo, this shall be interesting.

They are also buying IBMs low end server business. They bought the IBM Thinkpad division back in 2002 or so.

Frick · Jan 30, 2014

Sasqui said:
No kidding... what's left of them

They are also buying IBMs low end server business. They bought the IBM Thinkpad division back in 2002 or so.

Indeed, and the Thinkpads are still quite good.

WhiteLotus · Jan 30, 2014

Damn. I thought there were going to turn Motorola into a Google phone machine. Every Nexus phone would be made by Motorola. Shame really.

OnePostWonder · Jan 30, 2014

For anyone that thinks Google took a major loss here, Forbes has some interesting articles about this.

Did Motorola Mobility Only Cost Google $1.5 Billion?

Google Profits Billions With Motorola Sale To Lenovo, Keeps Patents

I really have to hand it to Google. They're a super-active company that is able to keep pace with the changing markets; that adaptability has kept them from losing much momentum.

On the other hand, they really need to get their shit together with YouTube, not with-standing Adobe's issues with the Flash Player. I'm looking forward to innovations in HTML5 video.

Zen_ · Jan 30, 2014

The Achilles heel of Android has always been lousy OEM support for new API levels. As the hardware development speeds towards a plateau, it seems increasingly ridiculous to buy a new device for the latest level, or mess around with a custom build. Google got around that with the Moto products they developed, the X and G, and the Nexus partnerships. Easy to buy (no grey market merchants), unlocked, long term support, reasonable price. It doesn't seem that complicated to me.

As the hardware development slows down, and a the kind of price war the PC industry has endured sets in, it makes a lot more sense for a proven company like Lenovo to run it. Yet, it still seems like a premature move as the X and G were just starting to gain traction and a loyal userbase. I enthusiastically bought a G, and was looking forward to an LTE Snapdragon 410 based device down the road. Hopefully this sale is simply a baton pass with Lenovo picking up where Google left off, and not another step backwards for the industry.

micropage7 · Jan 30, 2014

DRDNA said:
I am almost certain this was their plan right from the beginning. They really just wanted control over the patents.

yep 1st i heard is about patents, and i hope lenovo would stay it on better price and performance, lenovo has alot of nice phones.
just waiting for further

suraswami · Jan 30, 2014

james888 said:
The Motorola employees must feel like a used ~~towel~~ toilet paper.

corrected!

WhiteLotus said:
Damn. I thought there were going to turn Motorola into a Google phone machine. Every Nexus phone would be made by Motorola. Shame really.

I thought Nexus went to LG?

I like Motorola and been using them for a while. Hopefully Lenovo makes it even better.

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Google to Sell Motorola Handset Business to Lenovo

Sasqui

DRDNA

Nordic

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

Sasqui

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

WhiteLotus

OnePostWonder

Zen_

micropage7

suraswami

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