Lenovo backtracks on last year’s Moto branding, fully returning to Motorola

Early last year, Lenovo announced that it would phase out Motorola branding for ‘Moto by Lenovo.’ A year later, the Chinese parent company is backtracking and fully returning to the storied brand for future products.

In an interview at MWC (via Droid-Life), Lenovo announced this new decision, with the company now planning to fully embrace Motorola’s long history in telecommunications. Specifically, the ‘bat wing’ icon will be used, with Lenovo eventually being replaced around the world.

This transition will occur gradually and depends on the current brand standing in particular markets. Notably, Motorola will even replace Lenovo’s established Zuk line of devices in China.

This turnaround comes as Lenovo’s mobile leadership team — which restructured nearly a year ago — has found “clarity.” Current plans involve doubling down on Moto Mods, as well as bringing the Moto Z to more carriers in the US. The CNET interview also reaffirms how Motorola is not interested in releasing a new Android Wear smartwatch in the near future.

At MWC, the company released the mid-range Moto G5 line, but also announced a number of new interchangable mods. Meanwhile, not much is known about the company’s flagship device for 2017. While the Moto Z was announced in June, it was not available until September.