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Google selling Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for $3B

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Futureman

Member
What so good about Motorola patents anyway?

I believe that part of it is that Moto was literally there from the VERY beginning of the cellular industry, so they had patents going back decades that was relevant in fighting back against Apple.
 

rpmurphy

Member
Welp, being sold by a company that had no interest in making phone hardware to a company that already makes phones that sell like hotcakes.

hesalreadydead.gif
 

WillyFive

Member
Your phone isn't going to stop working and it will very likely continue getting updates for a couple of years.

Yeah, the Moto X is probably even more valuable now, as the next Motorola flagship may end up being quite different...
 

javac

Member
I'm guessing they were getting pressured from both carriers and oems for basically giving away very nice phones.

Hmm so it's basically Google evening the playing-field because it's not fair that they were in essence doing a better job? I guess that kinda makes sense from a long term relationship point of view. It seems Google are keeping some patents although I have no idea how prolific they are so I guess they got something out of it while showing the industry what's possible at that price point. Maybe that's all they wanted *shrugs*
 

zou

Member
Well, they did cite the Reuters story.

They lead with "TC confirmed reports that Lenovo is buying MM". They credit Reuters with who is advising the deal: "According to a separate report published by Reuters, Lenovo is being advised by Credit Suisse Group [...]".

This is what I would expect when a blog just copies some story:

'Lenovo Group is [...] to buy Google Inc.'s Motorola unit for around $3 billion, Reuters reported Wednesday" (@WSJ/Marketwatch).
 

Zhengi

Member
Google has so much money anyways. They could afford to burn a few billion here and there.

I'm very curious to see what Lenovo will do with Motorola and what kinds of phones they'll bring to the market.
 
I pretty much love everything Lenovo is doing in the PC space but their phones are kinda meh looking. Hopefully Motorola can do something awesome with the Think and Idea brands.
 

Vyer

Member
Wow. What a waste.

Dumping their own hardware path and tying themselves more to Samsung is an...interesting road to take.
 

tino

Banned
Oh shit, Moto X has failed google.

ihavemadeahugemistake.jpg

I hope Lenovo is allowed to sell phone in the US. I very much look forward to Thinkpad phone in the K900 package.
 

DonasaurusRex

Online Ho Champ
hmmm Lennovo going arm server with smartphone and cloud? they have a lot of areas they are invested in now they just bought parts of IBM's server business.
 

lenovox1

Member
Google has so much money anyways. They could afford to burn a few billion here and there.

I'm very curious to see what Lenovo will do with Motorola and what kinds of phones they'll bring to the market.

Lenovo's CEO told the Wall Street Journal last May that they wanted to start selling smartphones in the US within the year, and I don't believe any of the phones they showed at CES were slated for the US market It looks like they'll release whatever Motorola has cooking in the oven in the near-term and under the Motorola brand.

If Google is keeping the patents, what value does Motorola have to Lenovo?

For the consumer market they bring an established brand name, manufacturing facilities and contracts, and their R&D teams among other things that I've probably never thought about.
 

massoluk

Banned
"Google will maintain ownership of the vast majority of the Motorola Mobility patent portfolio, including current patent applications and invention disclosures. As part of its ongoing relationship with Google, Lenovo will receive a license to this rich portfolio of patents and other intellectual property. Additionally Lenovo will receive over 2,000 patent assets, as well as the Motorola Mobility brand and trademark portfolio. "

Well, there ya go.

If Google is keeping the patents, what value does Motorola have to Lenovo?

Moto and Droid lines, US market.
 

Zozz

Banned
And here I was looking into purchasing a Moto X haha, that won't be happening now.

That was a hell of a turnaround, didn't expect Google to sell them off this quickly, didn't expect them to sell them off! It seems like they were going in the right direction, but now the brand will just become the next Palm, for shame.
 

injurai

Banned
Would they be better off buying Nokia or Nortel's patents instead of Motorola?

What so good about Motorola patents anyway?

Their patents are what defines and has enabled cellular technology for the past 30 years. They are the most important and pervasive cellular patents, and pretty much everyone has been violating them or trying to contest them for years.
 
And here I was looking into purchasing a Moto X haha, that won't be happening now.

That was a hell of a turnaround, didn't expect Google to sell them off this quickly, didn't expect them to sell them off! It seems like they were going in the right direction, but now the brand will just become the next Palm, for shame.

Lenovo seems to have done pretty well with their PCs.
 

Fjolle

Member
Their patents are what defines and has enabled cellular technology for the past 30 years. They are the most important and pervasive cellular patents, and pretty much everyone has been violating them or trying to contest them for years.

Are you talking about the Nortel patents? Or Nokias?
 

lenovox1

Member
That would be horrible if it is the case, and Lenovo doesn't care to follow through with quality cheap phones... I guess there's always Nokia for the quality low end but who wants a Windows phone?

The "free market" at work...

How did you come to get that impression, if I may ask?
 

Retrocide

Member
I guess it makes sense if you believe smart phones are close to being commodized....Google purchased Nest for $3 billion. They essentially swapped out a potential high growth company at the infancy of a potential market for a money losing company that is in an industry in danger of commodization. Google may have never been able to turn Motorola around so get out while someone is willing to buy scraps of what once was Motorola mobility.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Pretty much this. Those patents are mostly old analog patents that are almost worthless now. A bad deal all around.
I think that it is pretty obvious at this stage that sheer volume of patents and when they were filed is more important than actual relevance.
 

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
Please keep making stock handsets, Moto. And keep making phones in the US. :(
 
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