Re: Google to sell Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for around $3 billion.
If this happens I don't think there will be an Moto X 2 . Just because developement may have been started that doesnt mean it can't be scraped by Lenovo.
sent from my Moto X
And that is a worst case scenario. It's the same for people saying that they will still be based in the US. The new offices in Chicago and the plant in Texas, those weren't paid for by Lenovo, it wouldn't be a big deal to them if they closed them down. They could sell them for a profit if they wanted to, especially if they believe that their manufacturing plants can handle it, the only benefit to keeping them is not having to ship their devices. But the cost of shipping vs maintaining a production facility and paying US wages and benefits may not be worth it for them to do so. And while some point out that the components are made overseas, that is true for almost anything. As I recall the rare earth materials used in those phones aren't found in the US. But the phone is assembled in the US at least, and employs US workers, not just the deliverymen and salesmen that are the only US workers who have anything to do with most other cell phones.
I picked up a Moto X the night before this was announced, it should be here Monday. I hate that now, just like with Samsung, HTC, and LG, I'll be sending money overseas rather than supporting an American company. While many will say Apple is American, their total overseas manufacturing and keeping their money outside the US is actually worse in my eyes. I'm sure they've gotten a lot of tax breaks that helped them grow their business, and now when the country could use that tax money the most, they pull that BS. To me they're an American company only by virtue of geography, not at heart.
If they at least keep Moto's offices and assembly plants open in the US, I may consider them next time around. But it just feels disheartening to see an American tech icon like Moto become foreign owned. I remember when I was going to Tech school, I went to the local thrift store for a tie for career day. When I went to check out, there was an old radio on the counter for sale. It was a Motorola AM radio, I'm guessing from somewhere around the 40s to 60s, due to the frequencies displayed as "Kilo-cycles" instead of KHz. I didn't pick it up since it was $20 and I was in school so there was no budget for nonessential stuff like that. I still kick myself that I didn't sack up and buy it every now and then, especially now though. I remember my first cell phone in '97 was a Motorola (MicroTac 650e), my second a Nokia, and from then until 2009 I only had either Motorola or Nokia phones (8 Motos & 3 Nokia's). Most of them I still have, for nostalgia. It's sad to see the 2 pioneers of this industry end up the way they have. End rant.
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