Motorola re-entering Chinese smartphone market

PanARMENIAN.Net - Motorola has announced it will re-enter the Chinese smartphone market from February with at least three products, according to BBC News.

China is one of the world's biggest and fastest growing smartphone markets.

Motorola's phone business had retreated from the mainland in 2013 after it came under Google's ownership.

However, in October last year, China's Lenovo completed the purchase of Motorola Mobility from Google, paving the way for the firm to re-enter the mainland's marketplace.

Motorola said three of its products would go on sale from early February, or after the Chinese New Year holiday season, including its Moto X, new Moto X Pro and new Moto G.

The firm has not yet announced where it will position its products in terms of pricing, but analysts say it will compete against local manufacturers including Xiaomi and Huawei, as well as international brands such as Apple and Samsung.

They also said they were not surprised by the move.

"One thing a lot of people have forgotten is that Motorola used to have a 40% share of China's smartphone market," the BBC quoted Bryan Ma of research firm IDC as saying. "So there may be a residual brand value there they might be able to capitalize on. But of course, the market is quite different today, and so the question I have is - will they position themselves as a premium brand?"

Others said the move was a critical one for the Lenovo-owned firm.

"China is a huge market and all mobile players need to be present there," Frost & Sullivan's Andrew Milroy said.