On May 28th, Sergio Buniac, Senior Vice President of Lenovo Group and President of Motorola Mobility, stated in an interview that Motorola aims to become one of the top three global smartphone brands outside of China within three years.
To achieve this goal, Buniac has initiated an internal program called the "Gladiator Project." Motorola will implement three major strategic adjustments: firstly, shifting from a previous contraction strategy to significant expansion, with a particular focus on global markets beyond Latin America and North America.
Secondly, seizing a share of the high-end market through its foldable Razr and Edge series. Lastly, by collaborating with renowned brands such as Pantone, Bose, and Gorilla Glass, Motorola aims to broaden its user base, attracting Generation Z, B2B users, and more female users.
Motorola's transformation has shown initial success, with the shipment of the new generation foldable product, Moto Razr 40, being five times that of the previous generations, and the sales of the commercial office phone, ThinkPhone, increasing threefold.
In the 2023/24 fiscal year, Lenovo's smartphone activations grew by 12% year-on-year, with high-end products accounting for 25% of the total, and revenue in the Asia-Pacific and EMEA markets increasing by 88% and 40% respectively.
Buniak believes that Motorola has shifted from "fighting for survival" six years ago to "fighting for victory."
He points out that Motorola has consistently held a top-three position in the North American and Latin American markets, capturing a 6% market share in the U.S. smartphone market in Q4 2022; in the Latin American market, Motorola's market share stands at 24%, second only to Samsung.
Although Motorola's influence in the Chinese market has weakened, Buniak is confident in Motorola's future development. He predicts that with the advancement of AI smartphones, traditional application software will gradually disappear, replaced by personalized services based on user intent.
