Lenovo’s Acquisition Of Motorola From Google:
Is Google Sticking To Software?
By Kia Dargahi
As you may or may not know, Lenovo recently purchased Motorola from Google in hopes of further penetrating the smartphone market. After all, Lenovo’s name isn’t quite known outside the realm of personal computing. This being said, Google has lost a potential hardware asset and might not be able to make the great hardware + software devices that we have seen from Apple.
From the start, Motorola has been losing money for Google. Now, while this 384 Million dollar loss might seem like a massive hit to Google as a company, the software giant makes about 12 Billion dollars in earnings and the hit was more like a scrape in a giant sheet of metal. “Googorola” is now a thing of the past, something that is personally hard for me to believe, as there were enticing products on the table such as project Ara, a project bent on being able to replace individual parts on a phone. I assume I wasn’t the only one who was disappointed when Google decided not to use Motorola as the hardware for the Nexus 5 and 7 (although they are still very well built).
It seems to me that Google put Motorola in the right direction by proving that specs weren’t everything with the Moto X and proving that a low price point doesn’t mean a terrible phone with the Moto G. This being said, it’s entirely up to Lenovo at this point as to which direction the company will head in. This is to say that Google has put the foundation in pace for Lenovo but it’s up to them to take advantage of this greatly recognized name and enter the smartphone market to a greater extent.
Now that we’ve covered Motorola, what does the future of Google’s hardware look like? Now, Google has to this day and age only overlooked the hardware of two gadgets and those would be the chromebook pixel and the Glass. Needless to say, the industrial design of the pixel is stunning and the Glass is as well designed as it is innovative. The next clear step would be to build their own smartphones and tablets right? Well, it might not be as cut and dry as you might think.
Up until now, Google has partnered up with companies like HTC, Samsung, ASUS, and most recently LG in order to make their smartphones and tablets. What Google has done with these partnerships is secured these company’s roots in android in hopes that they will continue to positively promote the platform and simultaneously have great products to sell to the market. Let’s be honest, the Pixel and Glass have been niche devices that not everyone has a need for let alone afford. By using other Manufacturer’s already made designs (the Nexus 5 is loosely based off of the LG G2 for example), Google saves money and time while still benefitting from Google Play profits which, contrary to what you might think, bring a lot of revenue for the candy coated giant.
Well there you have it ladies and gentleman. For a weeks now, Motorola has been under the reigns of Lenovo and we will hopefully see the fruit of their marriage come to life during CES 2015 next year. While Google might seem like it is losing traction, rest assured that there are more sweet goodies that will come to life in the future.
