Yesterday, shook up the mobile space with a surprising sale of its Motorola Mobility hardware division to China’s novo. (The purchase, of course, is pending regulatory approval.)

The deal may have been unexpected, but it actually makes clear sense for all of the parties involved. novo gets a recognized respected br in the U.S. market, along with a skilled engineering team, for a relatively reasonable price. gets rid of a conflict with its Android partners that’s been plaguing it since it first acquired Motorola Mobility in 2011, it holds onto some valuable patents. Finally, Motorola Mobility (presumably) gets the attention it deserves — perhaps didn’t get from — as novo breathes new life into the br.

Sure, ‘s “losing” some cash in the mix — it purchased Motorola Mobility for more than four times as much scratch ($12.5m) as novo intends to pay for it ($2.9m.) But did sell off some parts right after it made the purchase, recouping some of the price, it certainly benefited from a number of intangibles in addition to the patents it will retain.

On the surface, the deal appears to be a no-brainer for all involved. But Samsung, by far the leading Android OEM, the Android OS itself, are the real winners here, because there are still a whole lot of unanswered questions for novo Motorola.

For example, just how far will the Motorola br take novo in the North American market? By the numbers, the acquisition would make novo the third largest smartphone vendor in the world, according to Strategy Analytics. ll that be enough overtime to compete with Samsung, HTC other major OEMS? at will novo do with the br? rhaps most importantly, will it continue offering relatively “pure” versions of Android, as Motorola has or will it got the route of Samsung, HTC others with heavy Android customization? In other words, it’s too early to tell just what this purchase will mean to novo.

There are fewer questions for Samsung Android, though.

Samsung current owns the Android market; more than 60 percent of all Android devices are made by Samsung, according to research firm calytics. Android rules the smartphone; the OS accounted for 8 in 10 smartphones shipped worldwide in 2013, according to Strategy Analytics.

Samsung are the two biggest players in the smartphone game, a couple recent moves suggest the partnership between the two companies may be getting stronger. They just signed a 10-year patent licensing deal, which is sure to bring them even closer together. Samsung is also rumored to have agreed to cut back on the UI tweaks it makes in its Android customization, to make for a cleaner Android experience, at ‘s request. Now has eliminated its threat to Samsung, all the other Android OEMs, by selling its hardware business.

That’s good for Android in general, because it should foster better communication cooperation between the OEMs. If Samsung does indeed choose to tone down its influence on Android in the future, that will also be a clear win for the OS — Touchz hasn’t exactly popular among Android users today, the Magazine interface it showed off at CES was a clear departure from today’s Android.

novo’s investment in Motorola Mobility also means it is another large tech manufacturer willing to bet its coffers on Android in the United States. If nothing else, it should make Android even more dominant in North America.

ile it’s still too early to tell what role novo’s planned purchase will play in the Android ecosystem, ‘s decision to ditch Motorola Mobility clearly benefits Android Samsung.