Motorola changes hands yet again
In a surprise announcement, Google has confirmed that Chinese powerhouse Lenovo has bought Motorola Mobility from them for a cool $2.91 billion. The deal includes a large payment through cash, and around $750 million dollars in Lenovo shares for Google. The deal confirms many analysts’ predictions when Google bought Motorola back in 2011, that the search company was only buying the fledgling mobile company for their vast array of patents that they would inevitably put in their war chest. While Lenovo will be taking Motorola’s brand and trademarks, Google will be retaining Moto’s patent portfolio, generously allowing Lenovo to license those patents for their products. With the deal, Lenovo will no longer just be the largest PC company in the world – it will now be the second largest phone company in China, next to Huawei.
