Lenovo had high hopes to become a major smartphone player after it acquired Motorola from Google in 2014. The company has now admitted that the integration hasn’t gone as well as it would have liked.
In its financial report, the Chinese company said China shipments declined a whopping “85 percent,” adding that Motorola “integration efforts did not meet expectations.” Product transition in North America was also deemed “not successful.”
But the company says it has learned from its mistakes since the acquisition. Lenovo’s decision to have two co-presidents is aimed at fixing those mistakes. One will focus on the company’s China-specific strategy, which revolves around its Zuk brand, and the other will “maintain high growth in emerging markets and get the U.S. business back on track with a competitive product portfolio.”
The latter effort has already begun to take place with the new, affordable Moto G line, which the company is pushing heavily in India and Brazil. The company has drastically updated the Moto G lineup to include three devices in total — the Moto G4, the Moto G4 Play, and the Moto G4 Plus.
The company’s core business is still PCs, so we’ll have to see what it’s planning to unveil in the U.S. to get Motorola back in the top category of smartphone manufacturers. Right now, it’s clear that something drastic is going to happen to its flagship lineup — the Moto X. Lenovo has changed the series’ branding to the Moto Z, and early leaks show the company is focusing on MotoMods — modules that will add extra or superior functions to a smartphone.
Modules seem to be on every smartphone manufacturer’s mind. The LG G5 debuted removable modules, but Google has long been working on a modular phone, dubbed Project Ara, and we’re likely to see the first device next year.
