- Long-struggling Motorola Mobility could see its phone sales double in 2014, according to internal projections uncovered by The Information. The projections also suggest Motorola, which lost $1.2B last year amid ongoing Android share losses, could turn profitable by mid-2015.
- The projections could suggest Motorola's attempts to move downmarket by launching emerging markets-focused phones such as the Moto E and Moto G have paid off. Its attempts to challenge Samsung and Apple on the high-end with the Moto X fell flat.
- Lenovo (OTCPK:LNVGY), set to pay $2.91B to buy Motorola (while keeping Motorola's brand in the U.S. and certain other markets), must be pleased with the forecasts. As it is, Lenovo aims to ship 80M smartphones this year, up sharply from the 45.5M IDC estimates the company shipped last year.
- The Information also backs up a recent report stating Google and Motorola are working on a 5.9" Nexus phablet appropriately codenamed Shamu. Notably, Google didn't work with Motorola on Nexus hardware prior to the Lenovo deal, as its Android unit tried to placate nervous OEM partners by keeping the Motorola unit at arm's length.