With CEO Rick Osterloh out of the picture, Motorola has become fully managed by Lenovo

posted by Luis D. / Mar 18, 2016, 9:03 AM

With CEO Rick Osterloh out of the picture, Motorola has become fully managed by Lenovo

Rick Osterloh, the company veteran that ran Motorola Mobility, is no longer holding the reigns at the Lenovo-owned smartphone maker. According to Lenovo's press release, Osterloh decided to depart, and the company "wishes him continued success in the future." Now that he's no longer in lead, it will be Aymar de Lencquesaing, former head of Lenovo North America, who will take his place on April 1.

The former executive burst on the scene in 2013 when he was pictured with the unreleased Moto X. As president of Motorola, he saw through the American communications company's assimilation into Lenovo's ranks. Interestingly, it wasn't more than a few weeks ago that Osterloh stated there was “basically no change” in the way Motorola operates under Lenovo's supervision, compared to how things happened when the company was owned by Google.

The moto brand may be alive and well, but now it's all Lenovo steering the ship.

It appears that Osterloh's departure is related to more than a typical executive shift. Apparently, Lenovo’s mobile technology business will be divided into two business groups. The PC Group will be recognized as the "PC & Smart Device Business Group", tasked with handling “PC, detatchables, tablets, phablets, gaming, and smart home products across Windows, Chrome, and Android based products.”

Likewise, the Mobile Business Group will be co-led by Xudong Chen (senior vice president of Lenovo Group and president for Lenovo China Region) and Aymar de Lencquesaing, with both reporting to Lenovo group CEO Yuanqing Yang. Chen will handle mobile operations for China, while de Lencquesaing will lead international markets.

Now that Motorola has become entirely managed by Lenovo, it's clear that the Chinese cohort may be keeping the Moto brand alive, but its inner machinery is pretty much Lenovo-driven. What are your thoughts on that?

source: Lenovo via Android Authority

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11 Comments

1. yoosufmuneer

Posts: 1518; Member since: Feb 14, 2015

I don't care as long as they don't change any signature Motorola traditions.

posted on Mar 18, 2016, 9:16 AM 1

2. Trakker

Posts: 283; Member since: Feb 11, 2016

Lenovo hasn't done a good job promoting their own brand outside of Asia so I'm not expecting much here.

posted on Mar 18, 2016, 9:18 AM 4

3. Mercedes-Benz

Posts: 403; Member since: Jan 18, 2015

Motorola is screwed with crapnovo steering the ship

posted on Mar 18, 2016, 9:40 AM 3

4. WilliamRBR

Posts: 8; Member since: Mar 18, 2016

Crapnovo? That may be the least clever insult in this history of insults.

posted on Mar 18, 2016, 10:26 AM 3

5. Konsento

Posts: 139; Member since: Apr 10, 2015

All I'm hoping is that Lenovo doesn't screw up what Motorola's been working on for the past few years. Worse yet, I really don't want them to keep the brand at a standstill.

posted on Mar 18, 2016, 10:37 AM 1

6. VicVicVic

Posts: 2; Member since: Mar 18, 2016

According to multiple January 2016 news articles, Lenovo is getting rid of the Motorola brand, and future Moto phones will be branded with 'by Lenovo.'

posted on Mar 18, 2016, 2:36 PM 0

8. emmawilliam834

Posts: 241; Member since: Feb 09, 2016

Goodbye, Moto. gone with the wind.

posted on Mar 19, 2016, 6:05 AM 1

7. palmguy

Posts: 955; Member since: Mar 22, 2011

No no no! HP & webOS all over again. :(

posted on Mar 19, 2016, 2:47 AM 1

9. snowgator

Posts: 3614; Member since: Jan 19, 2011

WebOS... Moment of silence please....

posted on Mar 19, 2016, 10:56 AM 0

10. snowgator

I feel we will lose all that was Motorola. I have had no experience with Lenovo except a second hand laptop some years ago, so I am open minded. But if we were to set the over/under at 1.5 years before the Moto name is completely retired, would anyone pick the over? All the great Motorola products and innovations over the years... Moto maker is a blast, and the pure version of Android is just not available enough. This, indeed, may end up being a bummer.