New Lenovo Moto smartphone coming in July

while most eyes are already on the flood of smartphones, including those from the likes of Samsung and LG, coming at MWC 2016 next month, the world's largest PC maker has come out to say that it too has a new smartphone coming soon. But "soon" here actually means way down in July. Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang revealed that a "more innovative, more attractive" Moto smartphone for the US will be revealed in a few months, which would make it the first Moto smartphone without the Motorola name and with Lenovo's brand instead.

Early this year, Motorola, as the business unit will still continue to be called, revealed that moving forward, Moto smartphones will be known only as that, "Moto". They will also carry Lenovo's branding, though we still have to see how it will be placed on a device, tastefully or otherwise. While not exactly the first Moto smartphone under Lenovo's ownership, it would the first under the new brand, marking a transition in Motorola's history.

Lenovo faces a difficult year ahead, not just for smartphones but especially for PCs, with both markets predicted to struggle in 2016. Lenovo has seen its mobile smartphone take a hit in its hometown of China, while the global PC market continues to stagnate. To face these challenges, Lenovo is looking to emerging markets for its big break.

Lenovo sees growth opportunity, which means profits, in most emerging markets, including India, th Middle East, and Asia. Even so, Yang also believes that there is still some wiggle room in the US smartphone market. According to him, Apple has already reached its ceiling in the US, leaving Android, which it of course puts on its smartphones, with a lot more room. Recent figures from Apple seem to confirm that outlook.

As for PCs, Yang says that everyone who has a smartphone in emerging markets will eventually move to a PC, because of the latter's more powerful capabilities. This is an interesting contrast to Microsoft's strategy with Continuum, a feature that was inspired and designed for emerging markets, that practically turns smartphones into PCs.

SOURCE: Wall Street Journal