Lenovo aims to make a strong comeback with Moto Z

Dubai: Lenovo is integrating the Motorola brand into one business model and the new handsets are currently launched as Lenovo Moto smartphones.

The Chinese company released a few devices in 2016 such as the Moto Z and Moto Z Play, which have been available in some countries and it will be launched in the UAE on October 15.

Lenovo is hoping to make a comeback and its first attempt is modifying the hardware by adding specially-made modules called Moto Mods, a series of expensive magnetic modular accessories that snap onto the back of the device.

The Moto Z is this year’s flagship phone and it is going to be priced at Dh2,599.

“We are in a tough environment. The phone business is a tough business and we are looking at how to win in a tough environment,” Oliver Ebel, vice-president and general manager of Europe, Middle East and Africa for Lenovo, said in an exclusive interview to Gulf News.

“We are integrating Lenovo and Motorola teams together. The recent restructuring is clearly to make the two companies more cost effective,” he said.

The tech giant has laid off hundreds of its employees for the second time in two years, with a majority of them belonging to the Motorola smartphone wing.

He said that China has become a competitive marketplace with a couple of new local players entering the mobile phone space aggressively and growing very fast.

“We need to innovate and differentiate to become profitable. We are number one in the PC business for the last three years and it is due to innovation. That is going to be the case for smartphone business also,” he said.

Now, two brands [Samsung and Apple] are dominating the premium segment and to target that segment, he said that Lenovo needs to differentiate and give consumers a choice which is not there.

“Innovation and differentiation can really change the game. They [Samsung, Apple] have strong brand equity but Lenovo will take time and a lot of investment is needed,” he said.

“There is competition in all of the price bands. We don’t want to do what others are doing. We strongly believe in innovation and it is not only on the PC side. We launched the Yoga tablets and what we launched at IFA Berlin, the Yoga Book that consists of a 10.1-inch display and a Create Pad that doubles as a keyboard and writing pad,” he said.

He said that Lenovo will focus from entry-level to mid-tier segments and Moto from mid-tier to high-end segments, so there will be an overlap in the mid-tier segment.

“Going forward, we will see how we will evolve with this brand. We will play in all the price ranges, right from entry level to premium segment. We will build the Moto brand and it is a journey. Moto Z is to show that we are bringing innovation into the smartphone arena,” he said.

Lenovo insists that the Moto Z line-up is not a one-off release.

“We have a lot of ideas for Moto Mods but the outside world is smarter than us, so that is why we are opening the space for third parties to develop Mods and then we will commercialise it. So we have no clue what will come up. We have a huge line-up of mods coming up in the next year but it is too early to discuss,” he said.

Lenovo hopes to have enough mods in the market that would turn your phone into the hub of all productivity.

“We will continue with the same smartphone size for the next three generations. So if a person buys a Moto Mods this year, he will be able to use that for the next couple of years’ smartphone models also,” he said.