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Google Sells Motorola Mobility To Lenovo For $2.91 Billion

Posted by Soulskill on from the experiment-over dept.

_0x783czar writes "Google today announced that they will be selling Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for the sum of $2.91 billion USD. Google says the move should allow the company to receive the attention and focus it deserves in order to thrive. From the announcement: '[T]he smartphone market is super competitive, and to thrive it helps to be all-in when it comes to making mobile devices. It's why we believe that Motorola will be better served by Lenovo — which has a rapidly growing smartphone business and is the largest (and fastest-growing) PC manufacturer in the world. This move will enable Google to devote our energy to driving innovation across the Android ecosystem, for the benefit of smartphone users everywhere.' Google was quick to add that this does not signal a move away from their other hardware projects. Additionally Google will 'retain the vast majority of Motorola's patents,' which they hope to continue using to stabilize the Android ecosystem. The deal has yet to be approved by either the U.S. or China."

9 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. ouch! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    That's gonna leave a mark. A -$10 billion mark!

    captcha: failure

    1. Re:ouch! by alexander_686 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yes, spot on.

      17,000 patents, plus another 7,500 pending. Also, the patents were higher quality patents, so it just was not the numbers.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...

    2. Re:ouch! by AuMatar · · Score: 5, Informative

      Not really. They sold various other parts in the past for cash, and got tax writeoffs. Forbes estimates it only really cost them 1.5 billion in cash. With this deal they made money, and likely kept the patents.

      http://www.forbes.com/sites/ti...

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    3. Re:ouch! by swillden · · Score: 5, Informative

      Google seems willing to pay 10B to rent companies for a while...

      They didn't "rent" anything -- they paid $10 billion for Motorola's patents. The rest wasn't worth much to them.

      According to this Google+ post, it wasn't that bad. Motorola came to Google with $5.6B in cash and deferred tax assets, plus Google recovered some more of their money by selling the set-top box business ($2.35) and some factories ($75M), and finally the sale price to Lenovo ($2.91B).

      So the net cost was about $1.56B. For that Google got most of the Motorola patents and Motorola's advanced products group. Good deal? Bad deal? You decide.

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    4. Re:ouch! by icebike · · Score: 4, Informative

      Its actually the other way around. Google is keeping all but 2000 patents (some sources indicate over 10K) and licensing them to Lenovo, and no doubt cross licensing those 2000 back from them.

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      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    5. Re: ouch! by andydread · · Score: 4, Informative
      Well Microsoft:

      1) did say in their internal documents that they intend to use software-patents as a way to "add a cost" to open source software especially Linux and anything based on Linux.

      2) Microsoft funds, and arranges for funding through Baystar Capital and RBC Canada for SCO's failed legal assault on Linux.

      2) Microsoft signs "Linux Patent License" deal with Novell and Xandros. Claiming it's all in the name of "interoperability"

      3) Later Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer claims (without proof) that Linux violates 235 Microsoft software-patents.

      4) Microsoft begins extracting a "Linux License" tax from device vendors such as Nas Maker Buffalo and some printer manufacurers and other device manufacturers.

      5) Android comes on the scene. Microsoft widens their "Linux License" program to include Android. However they still collect on a "Linux License" for servers from Amdocs and Amazon among many others.

      Microsoft is basically implementing what they always planned to do. Use trivial and obvious software-patents to destroy FOSS in the marketplace. The patent welfare is just a beneficial side-effect and i'm sure it helped to pad their most recent record earnings.

  2. Google is keeping all the IP... by Red+Herring · · Score: 3, Informative

    Considering the $4.5B that the Rockstar group paid for ~4000 mobile-related patents, and that Google is keeping the "Vast Majority" of the Motorola patents, the bulk of the price difference may well be in the IP.

    A quick google didn't quickly give me a number for how many patents Google is keeping, but if Lenovo is getting about 2000 patents, and that is not the "Vast Majority", then there are a LOT of patents.

    I gotta get me some more patents.

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  3. Re:WTF by oodaloop · · Score: 5, Informative

    Maybe you missed the part about them keeping the patents. This is part of their strategic goals of supporting Android without having to bother with managing a phone company.

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  4. Re:Lenovo again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Troll much?

    Lenovo has ALWAYS made the Thinkpad, even when it was called the IBM Thinkpad.