[ZuGgY]

The storied Motorola name will be wiped off phones this year.

Lenovo, which bought Motorola Mobility from Google in 2014, is unifying its two phone businesses under the Lenovo name. It's going to use Motorola's Moto brand for high-end products and its homegrown Vibe brand for budget devices. The Motorola name isn't completely gone. It will live on from a corporate perspective as a division of the Chinese consumer-electronics giant, said Motorola Chief Operating Officer Rick Osterloh.

"We'll slowly phase out Motorola and focus on Moto," Osterloh said in an exclusive interview Thursday at the CES conference in Las Vegas.

The phase-out is notable because Motorola once represented the pinnacle of wireless technology. The company did invent the cell phone, after all. At a point in the mid-2000s, you couldn't turn your head without seeing the ultrathin Razr flip phone, which came with a "Hello, Moto" ringtone. Older folks will remember the Motorola DynaTAC as one of the first true mobile devices.

But times change. Google bought Motorola's phone business in 2012 and sold it two years later.

"It's our treasure," Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said after the deal. "We plan to not only protect the Motorola brand, but make it stronger."

Lenovo wants to use its corporate brand to unify the products. Phones such as the Moto X will prominently feature the blue Lenovo logo. Motorola's iconic M "batwing" logo will still be used.

Lenovo's branding makes sense. Motorola has seen its business take a beating. Nowadays, you're more likely to nab the latest Apple or Samsung phone than you are to look at a Motorola device. Motorola said it removed its name from the packaging in 2013.

Still, some bemoan the loss of such a significant name.

"Lenovo does not have a bad brand but Motorola stands for a lot, especially in mobile," said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst for Kantar WorldPanel. "It would be a shame to move away from that."

The decision is likely a play to use the Moto lineup, which is popular with Android enthusiasts, to get people more acquainted with the Lenovo brand. While Lenovo is the world's largest PC maker, it isn't front of mind for phones and other mobile products.

Source

Good or bad thing? You tell me.

[EvilNerd]

Good or bad thing? You tell me.

Sad 😵
Nokia, Palm, now Motorola, great brands are sold as clearance sale
I have a shoebox with my old cellulars, and the two old moto are the only one that still works perfectly 👍

[iLogic™]

Sad to see Motorola passing bye. I remember my first phone - it was Motorola.

[LilDurk]

First phone was a motorola, RIP man.

[minimalist]

Nothing will change and Motorola will continue to make their quality phones. I hope their categorization of phones under the Moto- brand will = faster software updates for people who use their phones, though.

[BooGod]

Motorola was my first mobile phone with a anten, still I think its good for them. Motorola have been holding their old fashion and sometimes old designs. I think Lenovo will get it up again, I like their specs. Only the future can tell

[ʕ•͡ᴥ•ʔ]

my first phone was a motorola it was a flip phone i think l0l