Fresh reports have emerged that Google is to sell off the set-top box unit inside Motorola Mobility. Google completed the $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility in May, but as far back as March 2012, the New York Times suggested that Google would seek such a sale once the deal was complete.

Bloomberg reports that Google has hired Barclays Plc to seek buyers, citing two people familiar with the situation. Motorola, which has been losing market share to players such as Pace, tried unsuccessfully to sell the business in 2009 for $4.5 billion. The emergence since then of devices such as Apple TV and Roku is likely to drive the price tag even lower, with suggestions that the Home Business unit might fetch about $2 billion.

Earlier in August, Google announced it would cut 4,000 Motorola staff and close about a third of its 90 facilities as part of a plan to restore the company’s leadership in the mobile market.

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