Lenovo is dropping its namesake on future smartphones and will instead opt for a "Moto" branding, reports say.
The carry-over stands as a course correction for Lenovo's $2.9 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility smartphone business early 2014, which, by the looks of things, hasn't been smooth-sailing. Suggestive of this notion is Lenovo's past struggle to integrate Motorola into its core business.
The name change also brings an organizational restructuring for the company's smartphone business in China.
Lenovo's Mobile Business Group Restructuring
Xudong Chen, co-president and Senior VP of Lenovo's Mobile Business Group, is leaving his position to be occupied by Gina Qiao, Senior VP of Human Resources, according to reports.
Yang Yuanqing, Lenovo's chairman and chief executive, has spoken highly of Qiao's leadership, depositing confidence for the now former HR senior VP. Besides her HR title, Qiao also headed the company's marketing in China and has been Lenovo's chief strategy officer for several years. According to Yuanqing, these notches in Qiao's career make her fit to lead the company's mobile business.
In addition to Qiao's new position, three new executives are entering Lenovo: Intel's Kirk Skaugen as the executive VP and president of the company's Data Center Group; Alcatel's Laura Quatela as senior VP and chief legal officer; and Microsoft's Yong Rui as senior VP and chief technology officer.
Lenovo's sales of both Motor-branded and Lenovo-branded smartphones for Q2 2016 totaled $2 billion, down 12 percent year-over-year, in an earnings results announced on Thursday.
Yang explained that the shake-up and name change is an effort enhance the capacity of the company's marketing inroads in China, where Lenovo's smartphone arm is less successful than overseas. In comparison with India and Asia Pacific, shipments of Lenovo's mobile product lines increased, with a recorded 15 percent uptick in the Indian market.
More notably, the "Moto" smartphones increased shipments of almost 40 percent from the previous quarter, a figure propelled by the Moto G and successful launch of Moto Z and Moto Mods accessories.
What This Means For Lenovo Smartphones
Lenovo won't dissolve its smartphone arm, it will simply now borrow Motorola's branding in the future. Though, that aspect alone still remains a question — how the company will properly implement that integration.
Lenovo has visibly struggled to corner a significant market in the United States with its self-branded smartphones; however, the Moto line may help propel it forward in bigger shores, the same one Apple, Samsung and big name manufacturers occupy.
