Lenovo has completed the $2.91 billion acquisition of Motorola from Google today. The deal, which was announced in January, comes just three years after Google itself shelled out $12.5 billion to buy the phone-maker.
Now a Lenovo subsidiary, Motorola will continue to be based out of Chicago with offices worldwide. Motorola Mobility President Rick Osterloh will retain in his position following the deal, with Liu Jun, Lenovo’s executive vice president and president of its Mobile Business Group, becoming chairman of the Motorola board.
Writing on Motorola’s company blog, Osterloh made a point of explaining that it will be business as usual despite the change in ownership:
“The iconic Motorola brand will continue, as will the Moto and DROID franchises that have propelled our growth over the past year. We will continue to focus on pure Android and fast upgrades, and remain committed to developing technology to solve real consumer problems. And we will continue to develop mobile devices that bring people unprecedented choice, value and quality.”
Yang Yuanqing, Chairman and CEO of Lenovo, spoke of the companies’ bold ambition to challenge Apple and Samsung:
“Today we achieved a historic milestone for Lenovo and for Motorola – and together we are ready to compete, grow and win in the global smartphone market. By building a strong number three and a credible challenger to the top two in smartphones, we will give the market something it has needed: choice, competition and a new spark of innovation.”
Microsoft’s $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia closed earlier this year and was almost immediately followed by a downscaling program that will ultimately see 18,000 redundancies before the end of this year. Motorola shed thousands of jobs under Google’s parentage — 4,000 in August 2012, over 1,000 in October 2012, and 1,200 in March 2013 — and the fact that Osterloh says Motorola will maintain its global offices suggests that there are no immediate job cuts.
IDC’s latest report ranked Lenovo fourth on smartphone shipments in Q3 2014, with fellow Chinese company Xiaomi ranked higher than it (third) for the first time. In addition to buying Motorola, Lenovo has more plans up its sleeve after it revealed this month that it will launch a Xiaomi-like smartphone business for the Chinese market in 2015.
Update: It’s worth noting that Lenovo and Motorola’s smartphone share combined is enough to surpass Xiaomi, according to IDC’s data. Although since the two brands are being kept separate, that’s really a technicality in our book.
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