Lenovo is looking looking at launching their next major smartphone in the US around mid-July this year under the Moto brand according to Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang.
The information came from an interview between Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang and the Wall Street Journal in which Yang is quoted saying the device is ‘more innovative, more attractive’ than previous devices. Mr. Yang also said he intends to leverage Lenovo’s Motorola brand to penetrate the smartphone market in the U.S.
Mr Yang also spoke about competitor Apple’s place in the US market, saying “Apple already has more than 50% share in the U.S. Can you expect more? I don’t think so”. Though he doesn’t see the market share of Apple increasing, he does think Android can decrease that share, saying “I think Android will take more share.”
The will presumably be the first phone released by the company under the Moto by Lenovo brand after they announced they were moving away from using Motorola as a brand in favour of using Moto and Vibe brands moving forwards. The Motorola Mobility name will fade behind the Lenovo brand and logo, but live on behind the scenes running the now joint mobile divisionsd.
Of course the true test will be seeing whether Lenovo can bring the new smartphone to the Australian market within a reasonable timeframe – somewhat of an issue with recent releases, with even ardent Moto fans tiring of limited availability of devices. If supply chain can be sorted out and Lenovo can get sufficient quantities of this Moto phone into Australia, we’re all very interested in what they have to offer.
I think even the Moto X Play is now end of life (at least for us), as it’s no longer on the Voda site, and unavailable anywhere else.
Not sure about that. It’s getting marshmallow at the moment and let me tell you, with MM this phone is reborn.
I would presume that X Play will come out with an updated chipset, similar to that of Moto G and it’s variations. Or, it will be available as a prepaid handset at around $350-$400 (Kogan already has this for $420 with free shipping).
This is most likely to be repeated with X Style. It’s sd808 chipset is at par with the newer sd650..
My predictions are based on the new mid-range mobiles (Huawei, Xiaomi, LeTV etc) having better specs with lower pricing.
I guess we will find out what happens by mid March.
Cheers,
Deniz
In place of the ‘buy now’ button on the Au Moto X Play page, it now has a ‘Register for updates’ button. Know what that’s about?