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Lenovo does a 180 and will use the Motorola brand again
Lenovo acquired Motorola from Google in 2014, and in early 2016, the Chinese company said the use of the Motorola brand name would be phased out, while still keeping the “Moto by Lenovo” name for some of its smartphones. Now, it appears that Lenovo has changed its mind, and will continue to use the Motorola name after all.
In a chat with CNET during the 2017 Mobile World Congress trade show, Motorola Chairman and President Aymar de Lencquesaing stated that the reason for going back to using the Motorola name was because they now have “clarity on how we present ourselves” which is something that apparently Lenovo didn’t have a year ago.
The Motorola brand name is much more well known in the mobile phone industry than Lenovo
That rather vague explanation most likely hides the real truth; the Motorola brand name is much more well known in the mobile phone industry than Lenovo, which is mainly known for its PCs. It certainly makes sense for the company to continue to use the Motorola brand for selling smartphones, including its higher-end Moto Z family of devices, along with their Moto Mods accessories. The company plans to introduce, or re-introduce, the Motorola name in more countries, including China, where de Lencquesaing says Lenovo’s own name, and its Zuk brand, will be phased out for its smartphone products.
The company’s plan is to expand the distribution of its Moto Z phones to other carriers, according to de Lencquesaing. At the moment, the only US carrier that are selling the Moto Z lineup is Verizon, although Motorola is also selling unlocked versions that can be used on different carriers.
The “everything old is new again” trend in smartphones was a big factor in MWC 2017, as HMD Global introduced its first smartphones with the Nokia branding to a global audience, and TCL officially announced the BlackBerry KEYone phone.
Are you happy that Lenovo has seen the light and will keep the Motorola brand for its smartphones? Let us know your opinion in the comments.