As the Google TV platform struggles to stay relevant, Google is reported to be working on a deal to sell off its Motorola Home business, the subsidiary that is responsible for building set-top boxes for cable providers.
Google received multiple offers for the cable box division of Motorola last week, according to Bloomberg. Google’s interest in selling off the asset comes as the company is looking “to focus on high-end smartphones as it steps up competition with Apple,” Monday’s report said.
Google acquired Motorola’s cable box business last year in a $12.5 billion deal. Industry speculation was that the set-top box business was a key part of the acquisition for Google, as it looked to grow its Android-based Google TV.
Reported interested parties for the business include Arris Group Inc. and Pace Plc., both of which manufacture cable equipment.
Unnamed sources told Bloomberg that Google may even provide financing to interested buyers in order to finalize a deal. The sources said the likelihood of a deal before year-end is 50/50.
The Google TV platform was unveiled by Google in 2010, with company chairman Eric Schmidt predicting late last year that the majority of TV’s seen in stores by 2012 would run the Google TV platform. That prediction did not come to fruition.
Logitech released one of the first Google TV devices, the Logitech Revue. The foray cost Logitech $100 million in operating profits, with Logitech CEO Guerrino De Luca saying that his company was abandoning the product as it “executed a full-scale launch with a beta product, and it cost us dearly.”
