Google has officially closed its $US2.91 billion ($A3.29 billion) sale of its Motorola smartphone business to Chinese electronics giant Lenovo, completing a deal first announced in January.
In a post on its official blog, Motorola’s chief operating officer Rick Osterloh says the company, which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lenovo, will continue to be headquartered in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart.
“With an impressive portfolio of smartphones, wearables and PCs, our two companies will be uniquely positioned to push the boundaries of choice and value, and bring exciting new experiences to people everywhere,” Osterloh says.
Osterloh also says the Motorola brand will continue, along with its Moto and DROID series of smartphones, and its offices around the world (including in Silicon Valley) will remain open.
According to recent reports, Lenovo chief executive Yang Yuanqing intends to pursue a two-brand strategy, with the Motorola brand set to return to the tablet market alongside Lenovo’s own ThinkPad series of Windows tablets.
Earlier this month, speculation resurfaced Lenovo, which is the world’s largest PC maker by volume, intends to launch a takeover bid for BlackBerry.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
