In a recent interview with Fortune, Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang says that the company's mission is to surpass Apple and Samsung. Lenovo just announced that it has agreed to purchase Motorola from Google for $2.91 billion.
Yang tells Fortune how the deal came about:
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It's a very, very interesting love story. We were interested in Motorola a long time ago, even when they split into two companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions (MSI) [in January of 2011 --Ed.]. Right after Google (GOOG) bought Motorola [in 2012 ], I invited [Google executive chairman] Eric Schmidt to have a dinner at my house. I told him, "If you think you want run the hardware business, you can keep the business; but if you are not interested in the hardware business, we definitely can handle that, take over that."
He remembered that, and two months ago, he sent me an e-mail. I called him back, and he asked me, "Are you still interested in Motorola?" I said, "Definitely." We started to discuss it. I went to Silicon Valley many times. [Google CEO] Larry Page invited me to his house to have a dinner. Very quickly -- in just two months -- we closed the deal.
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The company has yet to decide whether it will brand its smartphones with the Lenovo name. Yang says, "Most likely we will leverage the Motorola brand, but it could be something like 'Motorola by Lenovo.'"
When asked if he thought the company could catch up to Apple or Samsung, he said, "Definitely, over time. Our mission is to surpass them."
The full interview can be read at the link below...
Read More
Yang tells Fortune how the deal came about:
---
It's a very, very interesting love story. We were interested in Motorola a long time ago, even when they split into two companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions (MSI) [in January of 2011 --Ed.]. Right after Google (GOOG) bought Motorola [in 2012 ], I invited [Google executive chairman] Eric Schmidt to have a dinner at my house. I told him, "If you think you want run the hardware business, you can keep the business; but if you are not interested in the hardware business, we definitely can handle that, take over that."
He remembered that, and two months ago, he sent me an e-mail. I called him back, and he asked me, "Are you still interested in Motorola?" I said, "Definitely." We started to discuss it. I went to Silicon Valley many times. [Google CEO] Larry Page invited me to his house to have a dinner. Very quickly -- in just two months -- we closed the deal.
---
The company has yet to decide whether it will brand its smartphones with the Lenovo name. Yang says, "Most likely we will leverage the Motorola brand, but it could be something like 'Motorola by Lenovo.'"
When asked if he thought the company could catch up to Apple or Samsung, he said, "Definitely, over time. Our mission is to surpass them."
The full interview can be read at the link below...
Read More