Lenovo Complains That Motorola Did Not Meet Their Expectations After the Buyout

dgstorm

Editor in Chief
Staff member
Premium Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Messages
10,991
Reaction score
3,961
Location
Austin, TX
lenovorala.jpg

It seems that not all is well with Motorola at Lenovo. The Lenovo Group just released their latest financial report, and they were brutally honest about the failure of Motorola to live up to their expectations after the acquisition. For the most part, Lenovo was profitable, but it was their mobile division that put a drag on that.

Lenovo pointed out that Motorola was already struggling before they chose to buy them out, and continued to do so afterwards. That was the main reason Lenovo chose to shelve the Motorola name in favor of the simpler Moto branding. This is also the reason Lenovo chose to take the reigns on the company instead of letting Moto have more autonomy as previously promised.

To be clear, Lenovo isn't placing all the blame for their reduced profits on Motorola. They admitted that they have been facing greater pressure from increased competition in China over the last couple of years. Supposedly, their new plan is to produce a much more competitive series of mobile products globally. They didn't name it specifically, but the rumored Moto Z is likely the vanguard for that new push.

Source: Lenovo News
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Caesars

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2012
Messages
1,376
Reaction score
114
If Motorola would release some of the AMAZING PHONES i see them release every year on ANY other carrier, I'd probably have a Motorola on me. Sticking with one single network in the states works about as well as the priv $720 price point.

Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk
 

Powarun

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2015
Messages
96
Reaction score
24
Current Phone Model
HTC One M8
Think the bigger part is all the new Chinese manufactures taking over. That and I don't trust Lenovo, their laptops are full of bloat.
 

xeene

Gold Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
3,479
Reaction score
1,004
Location
detroit, usa
Motorola had an advantage in the past that other manufacturers didnt: superior radios and giant batteries that would outlast competition. They've lost that in past couple years and now have nothing to attract customers. We used to be sole moto customers during droid maxx days, I've even beta tested their software since original droid x. But now I see no reason to give them my money. Not when phones like s7 active are on the market. Even my 2 year old xperia z3v puts moto phones to shame.
 

FoxKat

Premium Member
Premium Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
14,651
Reaction score
4,703
Location
Pennsylvania
Current Phone Model
Droid Turbo 2 & Galaxy S7
It's a shame really. Motorola was in their heyday considered to be the preeminent communications expert, having worldwide respect and being the overwhelming choice for first responders and mission critical communications (read military and high level government security). The best engineers in the industry would kill to work for them and that name on your resume meant you could work for any competitor and practically name your salary.

Their radios were considered the standard to which all other manufacturers were compared. If your equipment tested within close ranges to the Motorola ones you were considered among the finest. If it couldn't be done by Motorola, many would say it couldn't be done at all.

Along comes China. Ugh... they just love to take our money. At first if they couldn't undercut us by making extremely cheap knockoffs, they simply bought our companies and products, shelved them and then made less expensive, lesser performing, more dangerous and most importantly more profitable products to suck even more US dollars overseas.

Eventually they began overtaking us from a technology standpoint to where now THEY are the innovators and THEY make the cutting edge products. They have put us out of the manufacturing business and we let them. OUR insatiable thirst for higher technology at lower cost has fueled this transformation, fleecing us in the process. Their savage work environment, lack of basic human rights, deplorable working conditions, apparently non-existent or laxly enforced child labor laws and inherently low income; almost mandated poverty for their citizens has made this possible.

I can't wait for the changes to things such as import taxation, suspended and renegotiated trade agreements, corporate tax cuts, new incentives, cost reduction for education, more energy independence and tighter immigration policies to take hold and give the US a chance to regain its footholds as the top innovator, best engineering, highest education level and greatest manufacturer positions one again.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

Jonny Kansas

Administrator
Staff member
Rescue Squad
Joined
Jan 21, 2010
Messages
16,740
Reaction score
7,355
Location
Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Website
www.google.com
Current Phone Model
Pixel XL
Twitter
jonny_ks
I also don't think it's entirely fair to judge them based on this year. With the exception of the Droid Turbo 2, this was their first foray into selling their phones unlocked and not in carrier stores. Not having them on the carrier shelves surely had an effect on the number of overall devices they sold. Just my 2 cents.
 

94lt1

Super Moderator
Staff member
Premium Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2012
Messages
17,041
Reaction score
3,997
Location
SE TX
Current Phone Model
Droid Turbo 2
In my business experience..if you buy a company and YOU are the new parent...then how the first year goes typically relies upon YOU..not your shiny new tax write off...look at what they bought moto for..it was a drop in the bucket after Google got their patents and anything else they wanted...what did lenovo expect??
 

pc747

Regular Member
Rescue Squad
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
25,489
Reaction score
6,865
You all make great points. To reiterate, why should I buy Motorola?

Back during the droid days it was simple; best radios, awesome battery life (until the blurred it up), etc. Plus at the time of the droid there really were not that many players in the Android game. Now everyone is making an Android phone so you have to stick out from the competition. Moto maker was a start but you have to do more. And it does not help that reports about how Motorola had been handling warranty issues as of late surfaced.

The thing is Motorola can sell. I just don't think lenovo wants to put in the work or spend the money to release a quality product with the radio performance and build quality that made Motorola famous.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 

Jeffrey

Premium Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2012
Messages
6,645
Reaction score
3,511
Location
Thailand
Current Phone Model
iPhone 7 Plus JB
The climate has changed folks. The money is no longer in the high end market. The money is in the heavily populated areas like China and India where mid-range smartphones are in demand. I think that is the direction Lenovo wants Moto to take and wouldn't surprise me if Moto gets out of the high end market..
 

Sajo

Diamond Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Messages
20,707
Reaction score
16,836
Location
Tennessee
Current Phone Model
Pixel 7 Pro
The climate has changed folks. The money is no longer in the high end market. The money is in the heavily populated areas like China and India where mid-range smartphones are in demand. I think that is the direction Lenovo wants Moto to take and wouldn't surprise me if Moto gets out of the high end market..
And i thought that was the main reason behind the Moto E and Moto G phones. Which I thought were selling really good in those markets.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

Sajo

Diamond Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Messages
20,707
Reaction score
16,836
Location
Tennessee
Current Phone Model
Pixel 7 Pro
If Motorola would release some of the AMAZING PHONES i see them release every year on ANY other carrier, I'd probably have a Motorola on me. Sticking with one single network in the states works about as well as the priv $720 price point.

Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk
And they have done that the past few years. The Moto X Force is the same phone as the Turbo 2 and available on every carrier outside of verizon. The Moto X Pure in 2014 was carrier free. The Moto X Play in 2015 was carrier free. In 2014, the Moto Maxx was basically the same thing as the Droid Turbo, available to all carriers outside of Verizon. And then the Moto G, they are on the 4th generation of that guy, and it's carrier free as well.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

pc747

Regular Member
Rescue Squad
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
25,489
Reaction score
6,865
And they have done that the past few years. The Moto X Force is the same phone as the Turbo 2 and available on every carrier outside of verizon. The Moto X Pure in 2014 was carrier free. The Moto X Play in 2015 was carrier free. In 2014, the Moto Maxx was basically the same thing as the Droid Turbo, available to all carriers outside of Verizon. And then the Moto G, they are on the 4th generation of that guy, and it's carrier free as well.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
Good point.
I give it that we are a more global market and that is an issue, but Samsung and Apple are having some issues as well. Selling cheap phones that go long do help especially now with the over saturated smart phone market in America. But what killed Motorola happened way before lenovo bought them. It started when Motorola was doing good with the droid and started ignoring the fans. About time they listened to what fans wanted people already moved on.
Mistakes after mistakes killed Motorola. Remember when the droid Maxx was suppose to release in the summer but was pushed to fall?
At the time there were a lot of people wanting that phone for the battery life, including myself. Then they went up against the more powerful note 2 that had better battery life, a better screen, and was just better all the way around. I went Samsung and didn't look back at Motorola.
Missteps like that with blur complaints, etc, etc. Motorola was gaining some ground back with their devices now but they will never get back to where they were in this market. Too many choices out there.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
Top