Motorola Mobility Holdings

Motorola Mobility LLC was acquired by Lenovo Group Holding in 2015. Motorola Mobility is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lenovo. The company is responsible for the development and production of all mobile devices under the Moto brand.

History

2023: Emerging markets share of smartphone supply - 65%

The share of emerging markets in the supply of smartphones of manufacturers.
The chart is based on data from the first quarter of 2018 through the second quarter of 2023.

2021: Motorola 312 Labs Breakthrough Innovation Lab R&D launch

Motorola on November 15, 2021 announced that it was launching an R&D laboratory for breakthrough innovations.

The R&D group Motorola 312 Labs will investigate distributed ecosystems, metaverse, study new unique form factors, and develop display , augmented and virtual reality technologies.

Motorola has enjoyed strong growth and profitability with the best performance in its history in the previous reported quarter, with earnings hitting an all-time high of 89 million and US dollars revenue up 27% year-on-year to be the highest in the last 15 quarters. This was made possible by an impressive base portfolio of products and services such as families, smartphones motorola razr edge and moto g, ThinkShield mobile solutions and Moto Talk.

Over the past few years, Motorola has not only introduced a number of innovative solutions to the market, but also introduced them into commercially available products such as unbreakable screens, moto mods modules and a foldable razr smartphone. Motorola 312 Labs will strengthen this direction and continue to bring breakthrough technologies to the market at an accelerated pace. This division prioritizes key areas of work such as the distributed ecosystem of the future, the evolution of the metaverse, the study of the unique form factors of mobile and Over the past few years, Motorola has not only introduced a number of advanced innovative solutions to the market, but also introduced them into commercially successful products such as unbreakable screens, moto mods modules and foldable razr smartphone.

This division prioritizes key areas of work such as the distributed ecosystem of the future, the evolution of the metaverse, the study of the form factors of mobile and wearable devices, the development of display technologies, augmented and virtual reality.

The Motorola 312 Labs group is endowed with special capabilities, since its mission is to study an unknown research team with experience and knowledge to translate the concept into reality. We understand the needs of consumers, because what is the point of a technical breakthrough if it means nothing to people? This is a key area of ​ ​ work for us when we talk about mobile technologies of the future, stated by Motorola VP of Product Dan Dery.

The numbers "312" in the laboratory's name represent one of the most famous telephone codes in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Motorola's innovations are inextricably linked to the city. It "gave birth" to devices such as the first portable phone, the first "clamshell." The team is headquartered in the Merchandise Mart business center, where Motorola employees work in more than 30 separate laboratories, including those from Brazil, China and India.

Building on the values of Lenovo's combined group of companies, Motorola 312 Labs will form a team and ensure diversity and inclusion at all stages of the innovation development process. This means that within the framework of the studies, participants in the sessions of a representative sample will include representatives of different ages, sexes, opportunities and races. This factor is fundamental to the company.

2017

Lenovo changes Motorola smartphone brand to Lenovo Moto

Lenovo is creating a single brand for all its smartphones. They will be called Lenovo moto, while the manufacturer will remove the Vibe and Motorola brands from the market. This was reported to Vedomosti by the executive director of Lenovo's mobile division in the Eastern Europe region, Alexei Klochkov.

According to him, Lenovo moto will become a common name for the company's smartphones, similar to what the Yoga and ThinkPad lines of laptops are called. The announcement of Lenovo moto products is scheduled for February 26, 2017.

Motorola smartphones are leaving the market

Mobile Research Group analyst Eldar Murtazin does not consider the merger of the two brands into one successful step, since Motorola fans will not buy Lenovo moto phones, since this is a "fake" Motorola, at that time Lenovo devices are interesting not because of the brand, but because of the value for money. According to Murtazin, the Motorola brand has already been thoroughly forgotten in Russia.

Motorola in Russia is remembered. Using the moto brand can bring Lenovo additional sales and customer loyalty, "objected Euroset President Alexander Malis.

According to Oleg Beriev, president of the Mildberry branding agency, Lenovo's creation of a single brand in the smartphone market is associated with a kind of identity search characteristic of most Chinese companies operating in the international market. Lenovo wants to blur Chinese roots and position itself as an international company, he said.

The appearance of smartphones under the Lenovo moto brand instead of Motorola devices is unlikely to somehow affect Lenovo sales, says an employee of the retailer referred to by Vedomosti. The buyer of smartphones with Lenovo or Lenovo moto brands will be interested, rather, in the functionality of the phone and its price, not the name, the source suggested.

According to MTS for 2016, Lenovo is one of the three largest smartphone sellers in Russia. The company's share in physical terms exceeded 8% against 21.6% for Samsung and 11.1% for Apple.^[1]

Lenovo: We thought we knew how to revive the Motorola brand

On January 16, 2017, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article on some of the results of the work of smartphone manufacturer Motorola Mobility under the wing of Lenovo. The head of the latter, Yang Yuanqing, spoke about what he did not provide for the takeover.

According to him, the successful consequences of the acquisition of IBM's computer business gave Lenovo erroneous confidence that the company knows how to revive the brand, which was once popular in the smartphone market.

Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing

Then we successfully turned Lenovo into an international company, "recalls Yang Yuanqing in 2014, when Motorola was bought for $2.9 billion. - Our problem is that we did not know each other. We underestimated the differences in cultures and business models.

The successful purchase of the unprofitable PC division IBM has created "a kind of aura of invincibility," said Neil Mawston, executive director of Strategy Analytics.

First, the CEO of Lenovo chose a non-interference policy, which was the case with IBM. He promised to return Motorola to profit within six months of the deal closing and not cut U.S. jobs, moving them to China at worst.

However, at least 2 thousand people were laid off at the American enterprises of Motorola, and the company continued to bring losses. In the 2015-2016 fiscal year, closed on March 31, 2016, Lenovo received its first loss in six years - $128 million. The Chinese manufacturer linked these cash losses to the costs of joining Motorola. In September 2016, Lenovo reported cutting another 1,000 jobs, most of which belong to Motorola.

Yang Yuanqing decided to leave two brands in the smartphone market - Lenovo and Motorola. According to WSJ sources, company executives are perplexed why Lenovo cannot make a premium trademark out of its name, as it did with IBM ThinkPad laptops renamed Lenovo ThinkPad.

In 2016, Lenovo slipped from third to eighth place in the list of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world.^[2]

2016: Motorola trashed. 1,100 employees are being kicked outside

Lenovo has confirmed a staff reduction of 1,100 people, which is 2% of the total number of employees of the company, of which there are about 55 thousand in the world. Employees of the Motorola Mobility division, which manufactures smartphones, will mainly undergo the reduction. At the time of the acquisition of Motorola Mobility by Lenovo in 2014^[3] people worked in it^[4].

According to the sources of the publication DroidLife, the first to write about the reduction, 50% of the staff of the American division of Motorola will be laid off, which is more than 700 people. However, the company will keep the Chicago office despite rumors it could be wound up and the remaining staff there moved to the North Carolina office.

According to Lenovo management, a new wave of cuts is necessary to maintain the long-term financial health of the company. In addition, it is part of "the ongoing strategic integration between Lenovo and Motorola's smartphone business," the official statement said.

2015: Waiting for Motorola smartphones in Russia

At the end of 2015, Lenovo opened an official online store in Russia, in which it sells its own smartphones and accessories. It was assumed that Motorola smartphones would also immediately appear in it. After Motorola entered the Russian market, Lenovo does not plan to stop selling its own devices under its brand.

2014: Lenovo buys Motorola Mobility. Google has 12 thousand patents left

The Chinese company Lenovo the AmericanGoogle entered into an agreement of intent, according to which Lenovo plans smartphones to buy the Motorola Mobility production unit for 2.91 billion, dollars according to the Google page with information for investors.

The deal will amount to approximately $2.91 billion - four times less than Google paid for Motorola Mobility. Approximately $1.41 billion will be paid immediately after the deal closes, of which 660 million will be cash, 750 million will be Lenovo shares. Lenovo intends to pay the remaining $1.5 billion within three years. The timing of the closure depends on regulatory approval.

Google itself acquired Motorola's mobile business in 2012 for $12.5 billion. When it was transferred to Lenovo, the search giant retained about 12 thousand patents of the company and its division, which develops promising products.

2013: Continued employee layoffs

Motorola Mobility, owned, Google began downsizing in August 2012. Then 4,000 employees were announced to be fired, and in 2013 another 1,200 will join them. The company employs over 11 thousand people. Motorola employees have been sent letters saying that despite optimism about the products being developed now, costs are still too high and that the company operates in markets where it is uncompetitive.

2012

Patent war with Apple and Microsoft

In response to complaints from Apple and Microsoft, the antimonopoly authorities of the European Commission launched an investigation into Motorola Mobility's licensing of proprietary technologies related to H.264 video coding standards and cellular communications. According to the law, patents related to industrial standards must be licensed by their owners on "fair, reasonable and equal terms." However, Microsoft believes that the licensing conditions set by Motorola Mobility do not meet these requirements, and the amount of royalties is too large. Prior to this, Motorola Mobility, citing infringement of these patents, demanded a halt in sales of Apple iPhone and iPad, as well as Microsoft Windows 7 systems and Xbox game consoles.

Google's announcement of the sale of Motorola Mobility for $2.35 billion to Arris Group

Google has agreed to sell the Motorola Home division of its Motorola Mobility subsidiary to American telecommunications solutions provider Arris Group for $2.35 billion. This is stated in the official message.

According to the terms, Google, which has owned Motorola Mobility since May 2012, will receive $2.05 billion in cash and approximately $300 million in Arris shares, which will correspond to a stake of approximately 15.7% after the completion of the transaction. It is planned to close it in the second quarter of 2013. Approval of the boards of directors of both parties has already been received.

The Motorola Home division is engaged in the production of comprehensive solutions for cable operators, including subscriber devices that allow the implementation of home digital IP television systems. In addition, the group produces solutions for managing and automating the smart home.

Motorola Home passed to Google along with the acquisition of other Motorola Mobility assets for $12.5 billion. However, this business is not of interest to the search giant.

Motorola Home is a profitable business and has generated $3.4 billion in revenue over the past four quarters. The addition of this business to Arris is expected to increase the company's revenue by more than 3 times (to $4.7 billion if Motorola's revenue is added to Arris's revenue for the four quarters ended September 30, 2012).

In addition, together with the acquisition, Arris will receive about 2 thousand Motorola patents in the relevant area.

According to an official statement, by buying Motorola Home, Arris will be able to bring products to the market faster, expand its customer base and strengthen its position in the digital television equipment market. Together with Motorola Home, it will be able to serve over 500 corporate clients in 70 countries.

Losses in Q1

Motorola Mobility sold $1.51 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012, but the company suffered a total loss of $353 million. At the same time, Apple sold $54.5 billion in devices and earned $13 billion in profit.

Motorola's business in the mobile device market does not withstand competition with major manufacturers: Samsung Electronics,,, Apple Sony Huawei Technologies and. At the ZTE same time, many of them, including Samsung - the world's largest manufacturer at that smartphones time - produce, like Motorola, devices based on the system. Android

2011: Splitting the company and selling Motorola Mobility to Google

• On January 4, 2011, Motorola completed the process of splitting into two companies. As part of the changes, Motorola was renamed Motorola Solutions (as one of its divisions that produces communication equipment is called). The company's mobile phone business (a division of Motorola Mobility) will be spun off into a separate entity called Motorola Mobility Holdings. The first company is located in Schaumburg (where Motorola is now located), Illinois, USA, the second - in Libertyville, also in Illinois. As a result of the Motorola Mobility branch, Motorola shareholders will receive one share of the new venture for every eight Motorola shares.

• On August 15, 2011, Google announced the acquisition of mobile device maker Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in cash. This transaction has already received the approval of the boards of directors of both companies. For each Motorola Mobility share, the Internet giant paid $40, which is 63% higher than the market value of the company's shares at the end of trading on the stock exchange on Friday, August 12.

Letter from the head of Google on the acquisition of Motorola Mobility

Since the launch of the Android platform in November 2007, it has not only significantly expanded the choice of mobile devices for consumers, but also changed the very approach to using mobile phones. Today, more than 150 million Android devices operate in the world - more than 550,000 phones are added to this figure every day thanks to a network of 39 manufacturers and 231 operators in 123 countries. Given this phenomenal success, we do not stop looking for new ways to accelerate the development of the Android ecosystem. That is why I am so happy today to announce our decision to acquire Motorola Mobility.

Motorola has been more than 80 years of innovation in communications technology and communications products. She made a huge contribution to the development of intellectual property, thanks to her developments, mobile computing has reached the high level that we are seeing today.

Among Motorola's achievements is the development of the first mobile phone 30 years ago and the smallest and lightest phone on Earth - StarTAC.

In 2007, Motorola was one of the founders of the Open Handset Alliance, which aimed to work on the Android platform - the first fully open operating system for mobile devices.

In 2008, Motorala relied on Android and chose this particular operating system for the entire line of its smartphones. It was a smart decision, and today we are very impressed with the success the company has achieved. Motorola's mobile business is going uphill, and we are confident that it will grow even more rapidly in the future.

Motorola is also the market leader in home electronics and video solutions. As the number of devices connected to the network is constantly growing, we are happy to work together with Motorola and the entire industry, support our partners and work with them to continue to develop innovations in this area.

Motorola only uses Android when developing mobile phones. And this is just one of the reasons why companies can effectively collaborate on the development of the Android ecosystem and for the benefit of users, partners and developers around the world.

This acquisition will not change our decision to grow Android as an open platform.

Motorola will remain a licensee and Android codes will remain publicly available. We will grow Motorola Mobility's business independently. Many of our partners - hardware manufacturers - play an important role in the development of Android, and we hope to continue to work effectively with them so that users can get the best solutions.

Various companies, including Microsoft and Apple, are teaming up for anti-competitive patent attacks on Android. The US Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one of the recent patent auctions to "maintain competitiveness and innovation in the open source community." The ministry is currently examining the results of Nortel's auction. Our acquisition of Motorola Mobility will increase competition by strengthening Google's patent portfolio. This will better protect Android from anti-competitive actions from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.

The merger of Google and Motorola Mobility will not only accelerate the development of Android, but also increase competition in the market, while providing consumers with a large number of innovative solutions, a wide range of devices and even more convenient ways to work with the phone. I am confident that these changes will greatly benefit all market participants.

I look forward to Motorola Mobility employees joining the Google family!

Larry Page, Chief Executive of Google Inc

2010: Dynamics of Motorola's share of the cell phone and smartphone market

Mobile phone and smartphone sales leaders from 1992 to 2018 in animation below.

1973: First Mobile Call

The first mobile call was made on April 3, 1973. Motorola's Martin Cooper called a competitor at Bell Labs.

Motorola Vice President John Mitchel demonstrates the DynaTAC radiotelephone in New York, 1973.

Jeanne Bauer walks with a DynaTAC cellphone on 6th Avenue in New York City, accompanied by John Mitchell, Motorola engineer, in 1973.

Notes