It’s time to say “Goodbye Moto.”
The brand that once dominated the handheld market is finally meeting its end.
At CES this week, Lenovo announced that it would phase out the Motorola brand, which it had purchased from Google back in 2014, but that it would be a gradual process.
The Motorola Nexus 6
The hardware maker, which in recent years snatched up both mobile and server properties, has been pushing to be the one-stop shop for all technology ranging from the pocket to the data centre.
This move was seen as another effort to create brand recognition, which the company has enjoyed in personal and enterprise PCs and is now growing in the servers.
While the Motorola line will continue into the next few years, Lenovo’s branding will start appearing beside the still-widely recognized “M” symbol.
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While Motorola’s presence has somewhat dwindled in recent years since its purchase by Google and sale shortly thereafter, its more recent phones, namely the Nexus 6 and Droid Turbo both received positive reviews.
Lenovo-branded phones are sold in many developing countries, most notably China, the company’s stomping ground.
The move is a reversal of previous statements that Lenovo’s senior executives made on record saying that it would keep the Motorola branding in developed markets such as North America due to brand recognition.
For now, the Moto line will continue to indicate high-end devices.
What are your thoughts on Lenovo’s move? Is the company messing with a good thing? Let us know in the comments.
What in the world are they doing? Why buy Motorola if not for mostly the name, brand recognition? It’s hard to fathom their strategy. I don’t see the upside.