A Motorola Razr Flip Smartphone kept at dispay at the launch event of the new Motorola Flip Smartphones, Motorola Razr 40 and Motorola Razr 40 Ultra, in New Delhi, India.
Kabir Jhangiani | Nurphoto | Getty Images
DAVOS, Switzerland — Motorola will likely be the third-biggest smartphone player in the world in three years, according to a top executive at Chinese tech firm Lenovo, the owner of the brand.
Lenovo, the world’s largest personal computer maker, bought Motorola from Google in 2014. In recent years, the company has sought to boost the brand and position it as a higher-end smartphone player to compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple.
In 2020, Lenovo rebooted the iconic Motorola Razr as a foldable smartphone.
Matthew Zielinski, president of international markets at Lenovo, told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the company has turned around the Motorola business and “hyper-prioritized” it and that is now paying off.
“I would bet a paycheck that in three years we will be number three around the world,” Zielinski said, laying out Lenovo’s ambition with Motorola.
Apple and Samsung are the two biggest players in the global smartphone market commanding around a combined 40% share.
Motorola and Lenovo combined had around a 4% market share in the third quarter 2023, making it the eighth-largest player globally, according to Counterpoint Research. However it has found success in certain markets. In the U.S., Motorola is the third biggest smartphone vendor by market share. In Latin America, Motorola is the second-largest player.
Zielinski said the company will be targeted in how it grows its market share geographically. The executive said Motorola is looking to grow “stably” in the markets it is in until it reaches 10% market share in those places which will uplift its market share globally.
Part of the growth strategy revolves around the premium segment of the market, in which Apple and Samsung dominate.
Foldable devices, like the Razr, are part of this category given their high price tag. Zielinski described Motorola’s launch of the Razr foldable as “taking a stab at the premium market.”
Zielinski said most of the users for the Razr smartphone have converted from using a device that is “not Android based.” Android is Google’s mobile operating system. The only other major mobile operating system around is Apple’s iOS.
Lenovo’s India push
Zielinski said Lenovo is ready to ramp up its Pondicherry, India manufacturing plant if it needs to.
The Indian government has sought to get electronics makers to manufacture their goods in India. Apple for example has ramped up production of its iPhones in India.
Zielinski called India “by far one of the most strategic countries” for Lenovo.
“We just believe now that we’ve made this leap to 5G, the ability to get technology into the hands of the masses where it was more difficult than before, and having the breadth of portfolio that we have from the pocket to the cloud, having the types of conversations we’re having with the Indian government, and having local manufacturing and looking at putting more jobs in the country of India,” Zielinski said.
“We’re going to place as many bets as we can because we think the growth of the Indian population is fantastic, and they’re wonderful people.”
