Google to sell Motorola unit to Lenovo for $2.91bn 09759187535508296.jpg The Flextronics plant that will be building the new Motorola smartphone Moto X is pictured in Fort Worth, Texas in this file photo taken in 2013. (Reuters) AFP Published — Thursday 30 January 2014 Last update 30 January 2014 1:49 am WASHINGTON: Google announced it signed a deal to sell its struggling smartphone unit Motorola to Chinese tech giant Lenovo for $2.91 billion. Lenovo has the expertise and track record to scale Motorola Mobility into a major player within the Android ecosystem, Google chief executive Larry Page said in a joint statement announcing the deal. Lenovo chairman and chief executive Yang Yuanqingof said the acquisition will immediately make Lenovo a strong global competitor in smartphones. We will immediately have the opportunity to become a strong global player in the fast-growing mobile space. The move comes after Googles biggest-ever takeover at $12.5 million, announced in 2011 and finalized in 2012. Even under Google, Motorola has failed to gain traction in a rapidly evolving smartphone market now dominated by South Koreas Samsung and US-based Apple. While Google would be taking a loss on the sale, it did spin off the Motorola Home division for $2.3 billion in 2012 and sold off some of its manufacturing facilities. Some analysts said Googles main interest in Motorola would be the portfolio of 17,000 patents, the majority of which will be kept by the California group. Google got wahat they wanted and needed from Moto -- they got patents, engineering talent and mobile market device insight, said technology analyst Jack Gold. They dont need to be in the device business... This is a win for Google and a win for Lenovo in my opinion.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 10:24:09 +0000