Lenovo completes Motorola takeover after Google sale
By Leo Kelion
Technology desk editor
30 October 2014 From the section Technology
Lenovo already had a successful handset division of its own ahead of
the takeover
Lenovo has completed its takeover of Google's Motorola Mobility
division.
The acquisition gives the Chinese firm control of the unit's Moto and
Droid-branded handsets as well as its 3,500 employees, 2,800 of
whom are based in the US.
Lenovo said the deal made it the world's third bestselling
smartphone-maker after Apple and Samsung.
That knocks its country-mate Xiaomi back down into fourth spot,
based on data from two market research reports.
Lenovo stated that a total of 100 million mobile devices were on
course to be shipped from its existing mobile phone business
combined with that of Motorola's over the current fiscal year, which
ends in March.
Little overlap
Motorola has found recent success with its "budget" Moto G models.
The original version, released last year was the bestselling phone in
the business's history.
The Moto G smartphone has helped reinvigorate Motorola's 86-year-
old brand
More recently it has also entered the wearables sector with the Moto
360 smartwatch, and announced its first Nexus device - a 6in
(15.2cm) "phablet" marketed by Google, which will be one of the first
phones to offer the Android 5.0 operating system.
Lenovo is the world's bestselling PC maker, a position it attained
after the takeover of IBM's personal computer business in 2005.
Its smartphones are already big sellers in Asia and the Middle East,
but they have not been sold in North America and Western Europe.
While Lenovo and Motorola handsets do compete for sales in India,
there is little overlap elsewhere between the two divisions at this
point.
"We're now planning to introduce Motorola-branded products back
into China," Aymar de Lencquesaing, Lenovo's president of Europe, the
Middle East and Africa, told the BBC.
Motorola announced the Nexus 6 shortly before the takeover was
completed
"But right now what we intend to do is leverage the stronger brand in
each particular market.
"For the most part, think of the developed mature world - that's going
to be Motorola-driven. Emerging markets will be Lenovo-driven.
"Some markets will overlap and over time nothing says that in any
given market we couldn't have a dual brand strategy. But, let's put it
this way, it's probably smarter for us right now to walk before we
run."
He ruled out cutting jobs at Motorola and confirmed that the division
would remain headquartered in Chicago.
'Quality phones'
Lenovo had previously stated that one of the reasons it bought the
division for $2.9bn (£1.8bn) was to take advantage of Motorola's
existing relationships with network operators in North America and
Europe.
One analyst said that this could offer a way to launch Lenovo-
branded handsets in those regions if the company later decided to
make the move.
"Lenovo has proven it can manufacture quality phones and it is
already well known as a PC brand in Europe and the US," said Ronan
de Renesse from the telecoms consultancy Ovum.
"So, it doesn't have the cheap aspect to its brand that some of the
other Chinese manufacturers have to deal with."
Motorola's brand has been updated to take account of the acquisition
Mr de Lencquesaing added that a nearer-term advantage to the tie-
up was that Motorola would benefit from his company's supply-line
efficiencies.
The takeover does not include Motorola Solutions, which makes
communications equipment for utility and emergency workers. The two
Motorola businesses formally split in 2011.
Google paid $12.5bn to acquire Motorola Mobility in 2012. It said the
key motivation for the deal was the firm's patents, which it is keeping
hold of.
http://m.bbc.com/news/technology-29833131

Let's hope they can keep the Motorola flag flying high and do better job than Google.

really don't know why it failed under google.