Lenovo to buy Motorola from Google

[Jas00555]

Google to sell Motorola to Lenovo, say reports | The Verge

Hopefully since Lenovo and Microsoft play nice, this'll stop that stupid patent war.

The Verge says its just the D&S, but China Mail says:

"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."

 

[hopmedic]

Google to sell Motorola to Lenovo, say reports | The Verge

Hopefully since Lenovo and Microsoft play nice, this'll stop that stupid patent war.

The Verge says its just the D&S, but China Mail says:

"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."

LOL - I just posted a link, too, when I saw it. The article I read, though, said that Google keeps the patents but licenses them to Lenovo.

 

[Jas00555]

LOL - I just posted a link, too, when I saw it. The article I read, though, said that Google keeps the patents but licenses them to Lenovo.

I think Motorola had a ton of patents (I think like 40,000) and Lenovo just bought 10,000.

Either way, this is great news for us since everyone was talking about how the Moto X and Moto G were game changers and threats to WP (more the Moto G and the 525).

 

[MikeMystery]

This might actually get interesting if Motorola starts making WP phones instead of Androids!
Or maybe Lenovo are seeing this as their chance to get in on the Android side of things?

 

[MaulerX]

Motorola was one of the holdouts that didn't sign a patent licensing agreement with Microsoft. Will this change since basically it will be no longer up to them? Will they finally make a WP at Lenovo's request? Question questions.

 

[k0de]

This might actually get interesting if Motorola starts making WP phones instead of Androids!
Or maybe Lenovo are seeing this as their chance to get in on the Android side of things?

I agree this will be great for WP if it swift this way. And a set back if it goes to Android. We have to wait and see.

 

[Jas00555]

Motorola was one of the holdouts that didn't sign a patent licensing agreement with Microsoft. Will this change since basically it will be no longer up to them? Will they finally make a WP at Lenovo's request? Question questions.

since Lenovo is a Windows OEM, they HAVE to have a licensing agreement for Android. I think Lenovo already makes Androids, but I think they only sell in China. Either way, since they're buddies with Microsoft (since Lenovo's main profits come from computers and servers), we could possibly see Lenovo Windows Phones.

 

[MaulerX]

since Lenovo is a Windows OEM, they HAVE to have a licensing agreement for Android. I think Lenovo already makes Androids, but I think they only sell in China. Either way, since they're buddies with Microsoft (since Lenovo's main profits come from computers and servers), we could possibly see Lenovo Windows Phones.

That's what I was thinking. If Lenovo is already onboard with Microsoft's patent licensing agreement, then by extension so will Motorola.

Maybe down the line Motorola would have had no choice but to sign up as well and so Google, to save face, unloaded them to avoid looking like a fool.

 

[Jas00555]

That's what I was thinking. If Lenovo is already onboard with Microsoft's patent licensing agreement, then by extension so will Motorola.

Maybe down the line Motorola would have had no choice but to sign up as well and so Google, to save face, unloaded them to avoid looking like a fool.

I think the $7 billion loss they took on Motorola makes them look like a fool anyways ;p

 

[WanderingTraveler]

I think the $7 billion loss they took on Motorola makes them look like a fool anyways ;p

That might not seem like a loss to them, since they did admit that Motorola was there for the patents.

 

[Jas00555]

That might not seem like a loss to them, since they did admit that Motorola was there for the patents.

at FIRST they said that, but when the Moto X came out, they then said they were using Motorola for some "expanded user experience blah blah" thing. Plus, they sold a bunch of their patents to Lenovo since (allegedly) they were the patents that they kept losing with in court cases with MS.

 

[MaulerX]

That might not seem like a loss to them, since they did admit that Motorola was there for the patents.

Well, the question becomes... Were those 7 billion for outdated analog patents worth it? After all, is it a coincidence that Microsoft won court case after court case against Motorola while being owned by Google?

 

[hopmedic]

Regarding the patents, I think the question should be, "Did Lenovo buy the patents, or are they just licensing them?" It seems the articles don't agree.

 

[Jas00555]

Regarding the patents, I think the question should be, "Did Lenovo buy the patents, or are they just licensing them?" It seems the articles don't agree.

the articles either agree on 2,000 or 10,000 patents, but they apparently bought the 2000/10000 and Google either will or just can license the rest.

Either way, I completely disagree with Daniel's POV on it, it just seems too tin foil conspiracy theory, which he ironically makes fun of all the time. I don't think Samsung is "on Google's leash" If anything, Google is on Samsung's leash. Google took a $7 billion loss on just the hardware divisions alone, and the courts have determined that Google's patents aren't worth nearly that much. All Samsung has done is (if you believe in conspiracies) say "yeah, ok, we'll stop doing extra work if you take a $7 billion loss". So tell me, who was hurt more by this? And really, in the long run, who needs who more? I think Google needs Samsung's hardware 100x more than Samsung needs Google's software.

 

[MaulerX]

Holy crap. Google unveiled on their earnings report that Motorola lost 384 million dollars this past quarter. A total of 1.245 billion loss for the year. Until the deal is finalized, they're going to have to deal with losses for about another two quarters.

 

[snowmutt]

This is a great thing for a bunch of reasons, in my humble, unimportant opinion:

-Lenovo is a hardware company, Google is a software/advertising company. I think the attempt Google gave to making Moto a profitable company was an honest one and their results were decent, but Lenovo knows HOW to do hardware. Much better fit.
-Usually, when these types of purchases are made, job losses happen. No way to avoid it as job titles and responsabilities converge, and it is bad business to not eliment those jobs. When Google bought Moto, not a lot of those jobs conflicted, so very few were lost. Lenovo has pratically NO presence here in the US, and Moto will provide a ready made manufacturing base and supply chain. Again, no real danger of massive lay-offs.
-Lenovo makes good products. They should compliment Moto well.
-Lenovo is dying to make a bigger splash in the US, while Moto needs a better presence in all non-US markets. Again, they compliment each other.
-As mentioned in a few other posts above me, a Lenovo/Motorola WP device is possible. Maybe not likely, but I have always lusted after the idea of a Droid 4 -style WP device. :winktongue:

 

[azcruz]

since Lenovo is a Windows OEM, they HAVE to have a licensing agreement for Android. I think Lenovo already makes Androids, but I think they only sell in China. Either way, since they're buddies with Microsoft (since Lenovo's main profits come from computers and servers), we could possibly see Lenovo Windows Phones.

No. Lenovo Android phones are also popular in the Philippines.


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