Google just lost ~$10 billion of worth in just two years. But is this true?
But when looking at the sources, it looks like Google didn't lose too much. Maybe, they just got what they wanted. At the time of acquisition, it turns out Motorola had no debt and had about $3 billion of cash. Also Google sold off Motorola's cable set top box business for around ~$2 billion. They just sold off Motorola to Lenovo, so when doing all the math, it's approximately $4-4.5 billion.
Now, one needs to know that Google had clear intentions for buying Motorola. They originally wanted Motorola to protect themselves from its competitors like Apple and Microsoft. Google's Android, which is still the top OS, was vulnerable at the time. But due to the acquisition of patents from Motorola, they were able to get what they wanted. When Google bought Motorola, it was skeptical to some because they paid so much. $12.5 billion was twice the profits that they had in 2010. However, it turns out that they just got what they wanted, just the patents. After doing all the math, the patents are worth about 4 billion, which is reasonable to Google because they didn't have a lot of options. Google was struggling with Motorola, and eventually sold it off to Lenovo. So what's next for Google, Motorola, and Lenovo?
It will be interesting to see what comes next.
I agree with the points you have made here as I have written a similar post. Google has definitely gone over the math thoroughly and picked the most optimal timing to sell off Motorola. The huge patent portfolio that Google kept will also work in their favor in the long run.
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