While Motorola is about two years into a leave from the world's largest mobile market, its new parent company, Lenovo, is intent on fostering a return to China.
Motorola reintroduced itself to the People's Republic at the Hello China event at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, where Rick Osterloh, Motorola's president and chief operating officer, revealed new hardware for the region and teased others.
With a presence in the country that dates back as far as 1987, Motorola is enthused is it is "re-igniting" its relationship with China, Osterloh told the crowd at the convention center.
"We're now a new Motorola, a Motorola that's focused on delivering the best for consumers and giving them power to choose -- that is our brand promise," said Osterloh. "It's a very simple concept. Give people around the world the power to make meaningful choices in their mobile experience."
Motorola has grown from being a presence in 10 countries to 51 countries in just a year and half, noted Osterloh. It doubled its device shipments in just a year's time, he added.
"Now, with Lenovo, we're the No. 3 smartphone maker in the world," said Osterloh. "This is just the beginning. We think there is a massive opportunity in the mobile phone industry to be more personal and more inclusive. And that's the kind of brand we want to be."
To celebrate its return, Motorola announced the availability of three handsets for China: the 2014 version of the Moto X, the Moto X Pro and the second generation of the Moto G. Also coming is the launch of the Moto Hint, a "discrete" earpiece. Osterloh also stated the company's Moto 360 smart watch will arrive soon after the smartphones.
During the event, Motorola showed off the first 4G LTE version of the Moto G and talked up the high-end phones in its Chinese lineup. The Moto X Pro has the same software experience and Moto X, Motorola's flagship phone, is designed with power users in mind.
"It has a bigger screen package, with a high-end camera and immersive sounds," says Osterloh. "It's big. It's beautiful. Moto X Pro is a powerhouse and it's for power users."
"[Today is] day that we've imagined for more than two years, and have been waiting for since Lenovo acquired us nearly three months ago," stated Nicole Zhou, human resources manager, Beijing.
Google bought Motorola Mobility, the mobile division that was spun off from Motoroloa Inc., in 2012. Google sold it to Lenovo in October 2014.
