At MWC, Motorola focused mostly on its union with Lenovo, but a few candid quips stole the show.
In Woodside's stead were senior vice presidents Steve Horowitz, Rick Osterloh, and Mark Randall, who took the stage for a Q&A session at the palatial Casa Llotja. They stressed the benefits of joining forces with Lenovo, but a few candid quips stole the show.
The trio opened the night by highlighting the strategic union between Lenovo and Motorola. The latter's brass expressed excitement over working for a company that they described as "truly focused on mobile" as the next phase for the company. On the flip side, Lenovo will benefit from Motorola's established brand in developed markets, something missing from the Chinese company's mobile lineup. The panel was really toeing the company line, but that's understandable considering the deal isn't technically closed yet.
The Q&A session moved onto the topic of wearables, where Osterloh pulled no punches: existing options are "all extremely ugly." There wasn't much in the way of grand vision or specifics, but Osterloh talked up plans for a watch-like product from Motorola, which has been in development since before the Lenovo acquisition.When asked about premium devices, Osterloh was candid yet again, predicting that "the days of $650 smartphones are coming to an end." Given Lenovo's track record of value-driven products, it's possible future smartphones from a combined Motorola-Lenovo will resemble the Moto G $99.99 at Amazon rather than the Moto X $399.99 at Amazon.
The takeaway here was clear: not much changes under Lenovo for now, and both companies look to benefit from the union. Other than that, though, we'll have to wait and see what Motorola and Lenovo have in store for the future.
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