Skip to main content

Google sells Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91 billion


When Google bought Motorola back in 2012, it shocked everyone. We all were expecting Google and Motorola to make great new smartphones, since they were both so good at software and hardware respectively. And what was Google's response? Google said they would work on a few devices, but they bought Motorola mostly for their patents. We will take a guess and say it did not work out too well, since they sold Motorola for $300 million less than a connected thermostat company. Shocking, isn't it? Let's take a moment to look deeper into why Google might have sold off one of the world's biggest telecommunications companies in the world.

Late 2012: Just a short while after Google buys Motorola, Motorola releases their new line of Razr handsets. The Razr HD and Maxx HD are slightly improved with 720p displays and faster processors, and the compact 4.3 inch Razr M puts high-end specs in a small chassis. These phones continue Motorola and Verizon's Droid love affair, just like it has been since 2009. Like always, people buy the phones but they do not make too big of a splash. What made these Droids interesting was that they had near-stock Android skins, which made their software much cleaner and nicer than the competition's. This was without a doubt done with a little help from Google. Motorola already had plans for these Droids before Google came into the picture, so Google hadn't work their magic just yet.

It is summer 2013 and Google finally releases their first product with Motorola: the Moto X. It had surprisingly mid-range specs with a 720p display and Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, but Motorola argued that the specs do not matter as long as the phone does what you need it to do. The soon-to-be released Moto Maker that allows you to customize your phone, and the allusively small body were a few of the reasons why Motorola thought more people would buy their flagship smartphone. We, like Motorola, thought that many people would love the Moto X. Sadly, we were both wrong. The $200 price did not stand up well next to the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One, and iPhone 5, which all had noticeably better specs than the Moto X. Motorola also did not have as big of a marketing budget as Samusung to get the word out, so a lot of people did not even know about it. Countless sales and special deals could not save the Moto X, so Google kept losing more money because of Motorola. They had put so much advertising money and R&D money into the Moto X that it was not worth it to keep Motorola. The new Droid line that people only hear about when a Verizon salesperson coaxes them to buy it was also not too profitable, so that did not make anything better. Even with all the billions that Google has, they could not make another Moto X device with Motorola to see these kinds of results again.  The Nexus program was not seeing as bad of losses as the Moto X, and even normal people started to be interested in Nexuses because of the Nexus 7. There were only a few, albeit very useful and intuitive, features that differentiate the Moto X and stock Android experience. Google did not have the time and resources to save Motorola, but maybe Lenovo does.


Lenovo does not have much of a presence in the American electronics market. Many business people and consumers love Lenovo laptops for their quality, reliability, and great security, and great trackpads and keyboards. Despite all this American love for Lenovo computers, a big portion of Americans do not know who Lenovo is. Even more people do not know about Lenovo's many tablets in retail stores across America. This will make it hard for Lenovo to put its smartphones in the hands of American consumers. Luckily, Lenovo decided that they will keep making Motorola smartphones under the Motorola name for the American market. From what we have seen from Lenovo's Chinese smartphones, we can say that they do in fact know how to make a decent smartphone. Lenovo's engineering skills and Motorola's brand recognition can get Lenovo into the American market, and possibly allow Motorola to come back as one of the big players in the smartphone landscape. You will see another Moto X sometime this year and probably many more Motorola smartphones, but there will just be someone different behind the scenes.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

It's 7:15 at night. The sun has been below the horizon for quite some time, but it is not yet my bedtime. I go to the cashier and ask her if they are showing my movie. She gives me a puzzled look, checks the queue, and luckily finds the tickets I am looking for. After asking my age she assures me that I have nothing to be ashamed about, nothing to fear. I then pass through the doors and embark on a journey I have been waiting for more than a decade to begin. Back in 2004 Nickelodeon, Stephen Hillenburg, & company released the very first feature film of the SpongeBob Squarepants franchise: The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie . The cartoon had been around for less than five years at the time, and many people did not expect much from its box office release. However, it did do very well for a television cartoon movie grossing more than $32 million opening weekend and receiving average scores of 66/100. This might sound mediocre compared to Oscar winning films, but this is incredib...
Post a Comment
Read more

Moto G: Moto Grrrreat!

Before the Moto X was officially announced, people speculated that it might be offered at an incredibly low off-contract price. Some people even guessed that it would be $199 off - contract . This was sadly not true, but Motorola did say that they would eventually offer a device similar to the Moto X, but with a lower unlocked price. Motorola also said that the cheaper device would be geared towards more markets than the United States, like Brazil and other emerging markets. They have finally taken off the covers of the Moto G, and it is almost exactly as Motorola said it would be. It looks like a Moto X, but it has less expensive internals. Many other smartphone manufacturers have made cheaper versions of their flagship handsets, but they almost always turn out to be pieces of junk. Is the Moto G a worthwhile handset, even at its $179 off-contract price? Can you be happy with the Moto G as your primary device. Scroll onward to find out, but you can just look at the title if you wan...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hands-On with the Motorola Droid Maxx and Droid Ultra

Even though the Moto X is going to be on every US carrier, Motorola still feels the need to have a line of Droid handsets on Verizon. Motorola’s Droid Razr HD, Maxx HD, and Razr M were relatively successful products, and they were actually really good.  The Maxx HD brought hours and hours of battery life, a speedy processor, and a decent HD display. The Razr M was a very nice smartphone in a small package, and was one of the best small Android phones you could buy at the time. This year, Verizon and Motorola unveiled the Motorola Droid Ultra, Maxx, and Motorola Droid Mini at a launch event a while back.  These products are now available for $200, $300, and $100 on contract respectively at Verizon, so we decided to try out the Ultra and Maxx handsets for ourselves. Can these Droids stand up to the likes of the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4, and Motorola’s own Moto X? Are these the Droids you’re looking for? Scroll onwards to find out the answers to these questions and more ...
Post a Comment
Read more