Lenovo CEO Vows to Be First to Deliver ‘5G Mobile Experience’ to Consumers

If Lenovo ships on schedule a 5G “mod” for the Motorola Moto Z3 smartphone in the U.S. early next year, it will be “the first company to provide the 5G mobile experience to customers,” said CEO Yang Yuanqing on a Wednesday earnings call. Lenovo’s goal for the fiscal year ending June 30 will be to “control” to under $1 billion the annual operating expenses of the Motorola business, he said. If successful, that means Lenovo will have reduced Motorola’s operating expenses by $800 million since buying it from Google for $2.91 billion nearly four years ago (see 1410300029), said Yang. In the “key emerging markets” of China and India, “we are committed to further investing in the right brand strategy” for Motorola, he said. That means “playing the emerging markets with a more conservative approach” that reduces product “complexity,” while keeping “an eye on the losses quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year,” said Motorola President Sergio Buniac.