Google is selling its Motorola Mobility division to Lenovo for $2.91 billion, according to a report from China Daily. Google acquired the company and its then 17,000-strong patent portfolio, along with 7,500 filed patents, in August of 2011 for roughly $12.5 billion.
At the time, Google said Motorola was a "natural fit" for the two companies and that it would "supercharge the entire Android ecosystem". The deal is said to include 10,000 of Motorola Mobility's patents, although it is likely that Google will retain licenses for those patents.
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Lenovo Group Ltd is likely to buy Google Inc’s Motorola Mobility business, giving the Chinese company a bigger say in the global tablet and smartphone market.
The acquisition, worth at least $2 billion, will include more than 10,000 mobile communications patents currently held by the United States company, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The deal is expected to be announced on Thursday morning in Beijing.
Google's Motorola Mobility subsidiary has been a money loser for the company in recent quarters, costing the firm $248 million in the most recent quarter. Earlier this month, Google purchased the Tony Fadell-founded Nest for $3.2 billion in cash.
Update: Google has confirmed the acquisition in a blog post, saying "Motorola will be better served by Lenovo". The deal will need to be approved by both the U.S. and Chinese governments.
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.
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This also goes to show that Google's only interest in Moto was that they thought they could weaponize standards essential patents. Once the various judges told them to buzz off, they finally gave up.
Total wasted shareholder money: $15 billion+ when you count the two years of covering Moto's losses, the failed lawsuits, and the discount they gave Lenovo.
So Lenovo is now in the Enterprise, Consumer and Mobile space.
And all the slow-thinkers still wonder why Apple does not rush to acquire smaller companies. :rolleyes:
Lol so Apple sells 52 million iPhones (more than any quarter in their history), pockets $13 billion and their stock plummets.
Meanwhile, Google says "oops, we wasted $12.5B on Moto - here Lenovo takes this off our hands for a $9.5B loss" and their stock is up.
What....that....what?
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Its a shame too - although Samsung took a hit last quarter. With the news they'll be scaling back their marketing efforts, I wonder if 2014 is the year we see another OEM step up to play with Apple and Samsung.
Maybe someone else will break double digits?