Motorola Returning To China Under The Veil Of Lenovo

Motorola has been focusing on the U.S. market ever since the restructure in 2011, following the $12.5 billion acquisition from Google. Ownership has changed hands since then, and now Chinese giant Lenovo owns Motorola, after a $2.91 billion acquisition. Lenovo now wants Motorola in the Chinese market, according to new reports.

Motorola’s Chinese site has teased some new devices coming into the region, but has not alluded to the names of said devices. Codenamed XT1079 and XT1085, it looks like both smartphones will feature LTE support.

It is unclear if Motorola will use its own brand, or a Lenovo based brand. Lenovo is the second largest mobile provider in China, behind Xiaomi, and has a lot of pull with the older audience. However, Lenovo has started to lose popularity due to its rather corporate face. Injecting Motorola, a new company with smart ideas like customized covers, might perk interest with the younger community.

There were reports a few months ago on Lenovo making a new brand for China in 2015, to fight Xiaomi. Motorola might be the perfect option, if they can lower the price of the high-end devices and compete more directly with Xiaomi. Motorola could also work fully online, like XIaomi. This is seen as a recipe for success, with the huge growth of internet usage in China, making retail stores a bit barren (apart from Apple).

Smartphones like the Moto G and Moto E could be widely popular in the country, since Xiaomi’s best selling devices are extremely low cost, with mid-range specs and a rather luxurious design.

We still don’t know when these phones will launch, but with the two mysterious devices already hitting China’s regulation office, it shouldn’t be too long.