Google to sell Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for $2.91 billion

[Cozume]

Re: Google to sell Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for around $3 billion.

So why didn't Google buy Motorola then immediately sold everything other than the Patents? They went on to make devices, which is interesting, given the intent.

That is why I think there's more to it.

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I am sure Motorola wouldn't have sold without something in the sale agreement that prevented Google from doing that. I would have to look it up to know the precise details but Google was desperate at the time. Go research what was written about the deal in 2011.

 

[Ry]

Re: Google to sell Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for around $3 billion.

So why didn't Google buy Motorola then immediately sold everything other than the Patents? They went on to make devices, which is interesting, given the intent.

That is why I think there's more to it.

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Probably became intrigued with what they saw in the pipeline.

Or wanted to turn Motorola around a bit before trying to sell.

 

[Ry]

Re: Breaking News: Lenovo set to buyout Motorola Mobility from Google

The Motorola gambit: what Google really got by selling an American icon | The Verge

The problem was that Google?s Motorola lacked the marketing and distribution power needed to actually sell enough phones. Despite a warm welcome from critics, Motorola?s losses widened to $248 million during the first quarter when the Moto X was on sale. "Motorola needs to build tighter relationships with other carriers after a long tie-up with Verizon on the Droid line," said Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research.

Overall, Motorola had burned through $600 million since the acquisition and was on pace to bleed about $1 billion a year. To turn things around Google would have had to pour hundreds of millions into expanding marketing and distribution, upping the competition with its partners. Rather than doubling down on making its own phones, Google used Motorola as leverage to secure the Android ecosystem against a painful and expensive patent battle and to prod its partners into accepting its version of Android.

Earlier this week it reached an interesting d?tente with Samsung: the two companies agreed to share patents, helping each other defensively and not litigating against one another. At the same time, Samsung reportedly made concessions about what Android will look like on its future devices, agreeing to tone down the extensive customization and duplication of apps and services that characterize its most popular phones and tablets. It?s hardly a coincidence that a few days after bringing Samsung more tightly into the fold, Google let go of Motorola.

 

[A895]

Re: The Sale is Official.... Now What?

comScore Reports October 2013 U.S. Smartphone Subscriber Market Share - comScore, Inc

So I was right? For the most part anyways. HTC is doing bad and LG and Motorola have small changes. Samsung and Apple had the biggest share.

Posted via VZW Moto X on the Android Central App

 

[A895]

Re: Lenovo Support

I've never seen a Lenovo phone here in the US. Are they even sold here other than unlocked global versions online? I think Lenovo will use this to seriously enter the phone space on this side of the world. Hopefully they don't change much with the Motorola products and business, but take some of what Motorola has going for it and implement it into their other phones. I would hate to see a future Moto X update add a bunch of Lenovo bloat assuming they have some on their current phones.

Lenovo phones are only sold online for now. With Motorola, they have their chance in the U.S.

Posted via VZW Moto X on the Android Central App

 

[Ry]

Re: The Sale is Official.... Now What?

So I was right? For the most part anyways. HTC is doing bad and LG and Motorola have small changes. Samsung and Apple had the biggest share.

Posted via VZW Moto X on the Android Central App

Here's an updated one comScore Reports November 2013 U.S. Smartphone Subscriber Market Share - comScore, Inc

*oops But LG is still behind Moto.

 

[anon(464338)]

Re: The Sale is Official.... Now What?

Might I add that Levono only does 20% of their business in the cell phone market. Not exactly killing it in the industry to my original point. So yeah they need to keep Motorola in the path that it's going

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[Dark_Blu]

Re: Lenovo reportedly set to buy Motorola from Google for up to $3 billion

And they're buying IBM's Server hardware business too. So Lenovo has computers and tablets and will now have servers and Smart phones. Why isn't this making the US Government nervous? Why are they so okay with Lenovo but not "other" Chinese OEMs?

 

[A895]

Re: The Sale is Official.... Now What?

Here's an updated one comScore Reports November 2013 U.S. Smartphone Subscriber Market Share - comScore, Inc

But LG is still last.

No HTC is last on that one. LG and Motorola have incremental changes and HTC fell with Apple and Samsung with the lions share.

Posted via VZW Moto X on the Android Central App

 

[A895]

Re: The Sale is Official.... Now What?

Might I add that Levono only does 20% of their business in the cell phone market. Not exactly killing it in the industry to my original point. So yeah they need to keep Motorola in the path that it's going

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They are huge outside of the U.S. regardless if Mobile is 20% of their business. Whatever they do with Motorola is up to them. No matter how much we go back and forth on this Lenovo has the final say, they own Motorola now.

Posted via VZW Moto X on the Android Central App

 

[anon(464338)]

Re: The Sale is Official.... Now What?

Uh yeah I know. Lol

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[A895]

I'm serious, between here and The Verge people are mad and sad. I don't understand why. Business deals happen that are outside of our control all the time yet this was the one that broke the tech community. Regardless ether Lenovo bought Motorola or not, that Moto X and Moto G will still work as advertised. Someone had the audacity to get mad because they bought a Moto X a month ago and now is venting in the forums about it. Your Moto X will still be able to tweet, and Facebook and play Candy Crush just as it did before this became official. I think we android tech fans collectively need to understand these are phones and devices that are a means to a end. The world won't stop spinning because Motorola got bought from Google, be happy and love your device for what its is now and not what could be or what it could have been. I love my Moto X and still have no regrets regardless of what happens from here on out, I'm on KitKat, I got no complaints.

Posted via VZW Moto X on the Android Central App

 

[Citizen Coyote]

Re: The Sale is Official.... Now What?

Things to consider...

1. The sale is not final. It seems likely to be approved, but you never know.
2. Smartphone development moves very, very slowly. Remember that the Moto X was widely seen as the first phone produced by the "new" Google-owned Motorola. Prior to that, it was all designs previously in the pipe (oh yay, another Droid). This, after Google picked up Moto in 2011!
3. Lenovo makes many different smartphones already. Someone linked the Vibe previously and thought little of it, but what about the K900? That's a pretty sexy looking phone (although I'm admittedly not a fan of the Intel processor).

So I honestly don't expect this to impact the release of the X's successor (assuming one was planned, and why wouldn't it be?). That phone is already well under development, and will carry Googlerola's mark.

 

[JRDroid]

Re: The Sale is Official.... Now What?

Ouch, this is horrible if Lenovo continues their vision and attempts to change what Moto has done. Granted nothing is final yet but ouch...

Lenovo did great with IBM and the ThinkPad line of laptops. I trust them to do right with the purchase of Motorola. They realize that their current strategy isn't going to work in mobile so they bought a company that seemed to be on the right track.

 

[blacksapphire08]

Re: The Sale is Official.... Now What?

In terms of smart phones in the US - LG, really?

Posted via Android Central App

Well they tend to make a lot of cheap low-mid grade phones. Its only recently that theyve put out great phones.

My biggest worry right now is support for existing Moto X customers. The fact that it was a Nexus-like device and was getting updates was probably the biggest factor in my decision to purchase one.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[ultravisitor]

Re: The Sale is Official.... Now What?

So does this mean that any hopes of seeing a Moto X2 are gone? It seems that way...

So you think that Lenovo is going to throw away all of Motorola's upcoming pipeline? And then what...? Motorola would have nothing to sell later this year. The successor to the Moto X has long been in development by this point.

It takes a great deal of time to develop a phone. Remember that when Google bought Motorola, they still had 18 months worth of devices in their pipeline.

 

[Ry]

Re: The Sale is Official.... Now What?

Might I add that Levono only does 20% of their business in the cell phone market. Not exactly killing it in the industry to my original point. So yeah they need to keep Motorola in the path that it's going

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Yup. They want to expand and build. Having Motorola is going to help.

 

[Ry]

Re: Lenovo reportedly set to buy Motorola from Google for up to $3 billion

Can Lenovo save Motorola? | The Verge

Now Lenovo wants to recreate that same success in the mobile realm, though it’s by no means a new effort for the company. Lenovo has been a rumored suitor for every major mobile takeover that’s taken place in recent years — from Palm, through Nokia, to a series of dalliances with BlackBerry that were eventually thwarted by the Canadian government stepping in.

That Lenovo was willing to spend billions to hitch a ride on BlackBerry’s setting star shows just how ravenously hungry for brand recognition the Chinese company is. It has the money and production capacity to be a big mobile player, but it’s desperately lacking a popular name to put atop that workshop. As Google’s Larry Page explained in the wake of the deal announcement, "Lenovo has the expertise and track record to scale Motorola Mobility into a major player."

Though still cagey on the details of its plans, Lenovo has revealed that it intends to use Motorola’s name in the Americas and maintain its own branding in China. More important to phone buyers, however, will be how this takeover will affect the substance rather than the marketing of future devices. The Google-owned Motorola started delivering Android updates even faster than scheduled, the Moto X is considered one of the best handsets on the market, and the elegantly improved software on Moto’s 2013 phones has been lauded for its cleanliness and efficacy. Would a Lenovo takeover signal a return to torturous update waiting times, broken promises, and bloated software?

I still stand by my earlier thoughts. If Punit Soni and team remain, Motorola will be just fine under Lenovo.

 

[jdbii]

Re: Lenovo reportedly set to buy Motorola from Google for up to $3 billion

Lenovo CEO said Motorola branding in the Americas and Lenovo branding in Asia. Makes sense.

I'm still sort of fuzzy on how that would work exactly. Would it be a Lenovo Moto X in China and a Motorola Moto X in the US and Canada, or would the Chinese Moto X just be called something different entirely.

 

[natehoy]

Re: The Sale is Official.... Now What?

Lenovo did great with IBM and the ThinkPad line of laptops.

This.

(looks at the Lenovo T530 on my desk and the two ThinkVision monitors, suddenly remembers that they aren't IBM)

Lenovo is a very savvy company. If the Moto X is selling like hotcakes, and part of the reason is that software updates are coming out regularly, they're going to keep that going. They're not stupid.

And the Moto X2 or whatever it ends up getting called is already well into the pipeline. That phone will come, and will probably get updates.

And let's all remember that it wasn't Lenovo that outsourced ThinkPad manufacture offshore - IBM did that. There's a very good chance Lenovo will keep the assembly plant in the US.