It’s been over a year since Lenovo bought Motorola and the deal become official. Lenovo has allowed Motorola to continue to run as is, while also bringing their portfolio to other countries – most notably China. At CES, Lenovo’s CEO Yuanqing Yang, stated that the Motorola brand would disappear, and instead it’ll be replaced by “Moto” along with their “Vibe” brand. While the Motorola brand is disappearing, the Motorola team is not, at least not yet. Yang mentioned today that his company is going to be releasing a new “major” smartphone under the Moto brand which will be targeting the US market. Yang also stated that it’ll be “more innovative, more attractive”, that’s not to say that the Moto X Style from 2015 was ugly, but it could definitely be a bit more attractive. The smartphone is slated to be announced in July, which is a little earlier than Motorola announced the Moto X Style, Moto X Play and Moto G last year.
In addition to talking about Motorola, Yang also talked about emerging markets and how he sees plenty of growth for his company in those emerging markets. Stating, “In most emerging markets, we still see growth opportunity.” Lenovo is already the top PC vendor in the world, and they are looking to have the same success when it comes to smartphones and other mobile products. Yang sees plenty of room for growth in Africa, India and the Middle East, due to the slowdown in the Chinese market. Which most manufacturers in China are starting to feel. Yang says he’s still “optimistic in emerging-market growth.”
Yang also took a shot at Apple, saying that he thinks Android can improve their market share in the US. Since Apple already has more than 50% here in the US, he believes that the platform as a whole can take back some market share from Apple. And that the Cupertino company has hit the ceiling in the US.
Lenovo and their executives clearly have big plans, and it’s great to see the US as part of that. Mostly due to them buying Motorola, but it will still allow them to expand outside of Asia. With PC sales decreasing at a rapid pace, it’s something the company really needs to focus on.