Unwired View

Having closely followed the activities of Motorola and what Google's been doing with it post-acquisition, it's (now) obvious to me they were always trying to safely unwind it & protect the rest of their hardware partners[1]. The upside that they were hoping for was that the IP portfolio would be a good defensive weapon against Apple instead of an offensive one against other Android ODMs, but that didn't pan out. They were never expecting to be a major ODM themselves for the long haul.

You're right that the contractors working at that facility may have gotten their walking papers earlier had Google had not come around post-Nokia (it was a most recently a Nokia plant - not a Motorola one, IIRC), so there is that to be said.

Again, my complaint is that it's just terrible optics for Schmidt et. al, to have signaled a commitment to growing U.S. manufacturing and then sold this enterprise not 2 full quarters from tepid launch of a toned-down flagship that didn't even get full support from the parent company's management.[2]

Additionally, Google did not really spend an "enormous" amount of money creating tech manufacturing jobs. They shrunk Motorola and phased out numerous lines and support for them and released thousands of Mobility workers before even launching the Moto X.

Yes, this might have happened anyway, but it's not like they were trying to grow the business organically. They were winding it down (and getting it ready for sale) while talking about growing it.

They…

Yes,

Considering that the EU also recently paid Nokia to keep developing Symbian, my naive thought is the EU would be very interested in this.

http://www.unwiredview.com/2010/11/02/explaining-symbeose-symbian-eu-funding-thing-relax-symbian-ain%E2%80%99t-dead-even-foundation-may-survive-now/

But I would easily admit my naive ideas about could be wrong given the many things that happen under the radar these days...

Edit: Elop denies being "the seventh largest Microsoft shareholder" despite being listed as such but confirms the level of share-holding which the list has. He's certainly not the seventh largest share holder of any kind, he certainly holds far less than Bill gates but it seems clear he is the seventh largest individual shareholder with ~$3 in shares.

Just prior to their acquisition by Google, Motorola was planning on suing other Android manufacturers to collect patent royalties [1][2]. Some of the commentary I've read speculated that the Motorola purchase was done partly to avoid civil war among the Android licensees.

Interestingly enough, Sanjay Jha left the company right after the merger was finalized (with a healthy golden parachute to boot!).

[1] http://www.unwiredview.com/2011/08/11/motorolas-sanjay-jha-openly-admits-they-plan-to-collect-ip-royalties-from-other-android-makers/
[2] http://www.phonearena.com/news/Motorola-wants-a-piece-of-that-Android-patent-infringement-pie-too_id21145

The may have been forced to purchase Motorola in order to protect Android?

During its Q2 earnings conference call Motorola hinted that it is ready to join Android patent racket, and start demanding licensing fees for its IP from other Android manufacturers.

This week Motorola’s CEO Sanjay Jha reiterated this message, and made it even more clear – they do indeed have plans to start collecting IP royalties from other Android makers.

http://www.unwiredview.com/2011/08/11/motorolas-sanjay-jha-openly-admits-they-plan-to-collect-ip-royalties-from-other-android-makers/

To find out, I guess we'll have to wait a few decades for the book?

I would bring up IP as a very important for differentiation (among Android vendors). We have a very large IP portfolio, and I think in the long term, as things settle down, you will see a meaningful difference in positions of many different Android players. Both, in terms of avoidance of royalties, as well as potentially being able to collect royalties. And that will make a big difference to people who have very strong IP positions.

http://www.unwiredview.com/2011/08/11/motorolas-sanjay-jha-openly-admits-they-plan-to-collect-ip-royalties-from-other-android-makers/