Lenovo waves buh-bye to Motorola President Rick Osterloh in big shakeup

By Christian de Looper March 18, 2016

google hires rick osterloh motorola — Recode

Not too long ago, Motorola was purchased by Lenovo, and it looks like the Chinese company is already starting with a major reorganization of its latest purchase. During the shakeup, Motorola will be losing some pretty major people from its leadership. First up? Motorola President Rick Osterloh.

The reorganization will also see Lenovo expand its PC unit, which will now cover computers, tablets, phablets, and smart home products, running Windows, Android, and Chrome OS. The newly expanded division will be called the PC & Smart Devices Business Unit, and Lenovo’s Gianfranco Lanci, who also serves as the company’s president and chief operating officer, will lead the charge.

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Osterloh led Motorola through the Lenovo acquisition after the previous president, Dennis Woodside, left the company. What’s left of the mobile division, which includes Motorola, will be co-led by Xudong Chen and Aymer de Lencquesaing, who will both report to Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing.

“His steady leadership since Lenovo’s acquisition is appreciated and Lenovo wishes him continued success in the future,” said Lenovo of Osterloh. “The talent and innovation capabilities in Motorola are among Lenovo’s strongest advantages in mobile, so the Motorola teams will continue to enable the entire [mobile business group], including in China.”

Lenovo previously announced that the Motorola brand will start to fade as time goes on. Instead, Lenovo will start to use the Moto name as a product line, so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see a Lenovo Moto X at some point in the future.

It will certainly be interesting to see what kinds of changes Lenovo has in store from now on, especially when it comes to its smartphone business in the United States. Motorola is a known brand in the States, but Lenovo has never sold a phone in the country before. All that will soon change.

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