Google could be about to sell off Motorola Mobility's handset business to Lenovo for at least $2 billion dollars. That's the rumor right now, at least, thanks to China Daily:
Lenovo Group Ltd is likely to buy Google Inc’s Motorola Mobility business, giving the Chinese company a bigger say in the global tablet and smartphone market. 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. The deal is expected to be announced on Thursday morning in Beijing.
Of course, no matter how high you stack rumors, you never reach facts, so we won't know anything for sure and certain unless and until Lenovo and/or Google start talking. Since details of unconfirmed transactions don't exist in this reality, it's hard to provide analysis at this point, but here are some quick thought.
Google paid $12.5 billion for Moto back in August of 2011, so unless there's huge swathes of the company or its assets staying put, it doesn't look like they got back anywhere near what they put in.
Lenovo seems to be interested in getting into smartphones in a much bigger way. They were rumored to be interested in BlackBerry until the Canadian government shut that possibility down.
Given what Lenovo accomplished with IBM's ThinkPad line of PCs, they have potential to do something great with Motorola's line of Android phones.
Google seemed mired in old roadmaps for the first year or so of their Motorola stewardship, but recently began putting out some really amazing phones, including the Moto X and Moto G. It didn't turn around profitability, but certainly turned heads.
Where this would leave Google in terms of putting out their own hardware is uncertain. They've partnered with several manufacturers in the past for the Nexus line, including the current Nexus 5, and they recently picked up a hell of a product team run by ex-Apple iPod lead, Tony Fadell. (Not going to say NestPhone no matter how fun it sounds!). So hopefully the spirit of those new Motos would live on.
For more on the story, and great Google and Motorola coverage in general, stay tuned to our sibling site, Android Central.
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