At CES, Lenovo announced that the Motorola brand name would be phased out in favor of ‘Moto’ and ‘by Lenovo’ branding. Today, the company announced a restructuring of its Mobile Business Group that sees the exit of long-time Motorola president Rick Osterloh.
Osterloh presided over Motorola’s sale to Lenovo and has been managing the company and product lineup since late 2014. He has since decided to leave Motorola Mobility. Under the new arrangement, the mobile group will be led by co-presidents Xudong Chen and Aymar de Lencquesaing. The dual-leader structure reflects Lenovo plan to tackle both the low-end developing market and more mature ones.
Chen will focus on China where Lenovo already has a range of lower-end smartphones, like the Vibe. Lenovo cites how “the mobile markets in China and the rest of the world are very different.” The company has plans to introduce their budget phones into higher-end markets, which led to confusion on the status of the popular Moto G and Moto E.
de Lencquesaing, named Chairman and President of Motorola, will be in charge of boosting Lenovo’s presence in more mature markets, with all Motorola Mobility teams now reporting to him. He was previously head of Lenovo North America. According to a WSJ rumor, a Moto-branded smartphone might be released in July. Specific features are unknown, but previous leaks point to a device with a full metal body.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments