Google’s Motorola Acquisition Appears Unprofitable

Google’s Motorola Acquisition Appears Unprofitable (TheVerge)

Google acquired Motorola for $12.5 billion in May 2012, and the division is on track to lose $1 billion this year. So far, it has sold off the set-top box business. The first phone created and launched since the acquisition, the Moto X, is not selling well enough to reach its breakeven point. And the patents Motorola owned at the time of purchase have proven neither to be a great revenue stream nor to help Google block the products of its rivals. “Looking at the purchase I’m still scratching my head about why they did it,” says Avi Greengart, the research director for consumer devices at Current Analysis, “and how they see it playing out going forward.”