Lenovo Close to $3 Billion Deal to Buy Motorola from Google

[xeene]

So... Moto was pushing built in USA phones. Now that they will be owned by China, what will they say? Built in USA financed by the great Wall?

 

[gadgetrants]

By far the worst news of the day that I've heard so far...and the day is almost over so I think this tops the list. My primary complaint is that so much of the PR spin that Google produced in buying Motorola's cell-phone division was just plain bunk. And even that would be OK, but consider: I've grown to really embrace the Moto X, and having watched Lenovo's PC line for the last two years, I'll tell you that we can kiss the X goodbye. I think the news will come in a variety of forms....first the rapid outflow of Googorola's design/development team, then leaks about designing the "revolutionary, new phone," and then finally, the chilling interview with US Lenovo executives basically saying, "Yeah, we really need to clean out the pipeline of previous phones and WOW will you be amazed with what we have coming after that."

Nah, I think I'll pass on that.

Anyway, someone PLEASE explain to me: Google sells Motorola Mobility for $2.9 billion. AND THEY BUY NEST (THE "SMART" THERMOSTAT COMPANY) FOR $3.2 BILLION?!??!?!?! Have they lost their minds?

-Matt

 

[jspradling7]

Those poor Moto employees.

"GOOGLE bought us?!! Oh crap!"

tick-toc-tick-toc...

"China bought us??? Son of a beech!"

 

[RETG]

Well, guess my next phone will be LG or maybe HTC. No more Motos for me; not with them owned by Lenova. They make junk laptops, even their higher end. Even my employer dropped them after two years due to the problems and went back to Dell.

 

[Preach2k]

So does this mean Moto is going down? I am glad I stuck with Samsung!!!

 

[cybertec69]

So... Moto was pushing built in USA phones. Now that they will be owned by China, what will they say? Built in USA financed by the great Wall?

The phones will be build in China, too expensive to build them here in the USA.

 

[Hodor]

Lenovo just bought IBM's xSeries server business too. What is going on here? Is everything being sold to China? As long as they stay an American based company, my next phone will be an Apple. I LOVE my Motorola phones. They will be cheap junk in no time now that Lenovo is getting their hands on them. Just look at where the Thinkpad has gone since IBM sold their pc business to Lenovo.

Bah, all the spying, crappy apps, Google finally revealing their evil self, the whole smartphone thing is starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth anyway, the novelty is wearing off.

-end of rant-

 

[pc747]

Well the public has spoken that they want a smart phone at nexus (affordable) prices. Problem is the affordable we want can not sustain an american factory of workers making American wages. I hate that Motorola (an American company) is now owned by China, but did we really think Motorola would have been able to make profits from r&d making new phones while selling them at half the price as a Samsung, HTC, Apple, or a LG smartphone?

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk

 

[Hugh Jass]

Huh, guess I'm in the minority here. Frankly Moto was a horrible investment from day one, and has been a skid mark in Google's underwear ever since. Google only ever wanted the patents anyhow, and honestly I was less than impressed with anything they've turned out since the merger.

I'm thinking more like...good riddance to be honest. It's not good for domestic competition, but what's good for Google is good for all of us IMO.

 

[creaky]

I think it must have just been for patents. Why else buy for $12.5b and sell a couple of years later for $2.91b?

 

[VirtualCLD]

I think it must have just been for patents. Why else buy for $12.5b and sell a couple of years later for $2.91b?

Actually a breakdown of the financial math says Google may have paid A LOT less than ~$10b for those patents. According to a back of the envelope estimate from Forbes, Google may be down only $1.5b for the patent portfolio. That would be a much better deal since the number of patents that I have seen thrown around is around the 10,000 mark. Supposedly most of those are "high quality" patents, but that sounds like conjecture.

Anyway, I am bit disappointed since I've heard good things about the Moto X and the Moto G and the X was being assembled in the U.S., but I have no first hand experience with either. My first and only Motorola brand phone was the Droid 2 and as much as I would still prefer a physical keyboard, no one was making them. I switched to an S3 and found it easier for ROMing than the Droid 2 so I figured I wouldn't be going back to Motorola anyway. Lately I have been looking forward to the next HTC One since several friends have it and I like the phone, but I started having second thoughts with the Moto X. Not anymore!

 

[gadgetrants]

Anyway, I am bit disappointed since I've heard good things about the Moto X and the Moto G and the X was being assembled in the U.S., but I have no first hand experience with either. My first and only Motorola brand phone was the Droid 2 and as much as I would still prefer a physical keyboard, no one was making them. I switched to an S3 and found it easier for ROMing than the Droid 2 so I figured I wouldn't be going back to Motorola anyway. Lately I have been looking forward to the next HTC One since several friends have it and I like the phone, but I started having second thoughts with the Moto X. Not anymore!

My follow-up is a bit OT, but eh...

...my first Android was the Droid, then the Droid 3 (totally with you on your keyboard comment). Moved last November to the HTC One, and now two family members have the Moto X. The only thing I can say about both phones is WOW. OMG. Just simply amazing. Neither is perfect -- and I'm a sucker for the gorgeous One screen over the X's -- but for the fairly average user who does your typical stuff (phone, web, email, maps, music, video, etc.) both phones are so over-qualified that they're each a joy to use. Of course add ROMs to the equation and the landscape gets a bit more complicated, but I wish I had a dollar for every time I've read, "Now that I own the One/X I don't feel much need to install a ROM."

Like I said above, I'm wary that the X design path will either get killed by Lenovo, or morphed beyond recognition. That's a shame. But let me make this clear: if you see the price on an unlocked X dip to, say, $199 I would TOTALLY jump on it.

-Matt

 

[kodiak799]

Yeah, Moto is not making any money (nor were they when Google bought them), so the value of Moto is basically the brand name and the patents (which Google kept). And from the patents Google has been receiving ongoing revenue (in licensing) and will continue to do so.

 

[akhenax]

Sorry but this sucks. China is eating up U.S. companies like Pac Man does power pellets, companies are turning blue and loosing their shirts.

 

[cybertec69]

Lenovo just bought IBM's xSeries server business too. What is going on here? Is everything being sold to China? As long as they stay an American based company, my next phone will be an Apple. I LOVE my Motorola phones. They will be cheap junk in no time now that Lenovo is getting their hands on them. Just look at where the Thinkpad has gone since IBM sold their pc business to Lenovo.

Bah, all the spying, crappy apps, Google finally revealing their evil self, the whole smartphone thing is starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth anyway, the novelty is wearing off.

-end of rant-

Relax, the world will keep on spinning.