Motorola Mobility insider Rick Osterloh is stepping up to the plate as the company's new Chief Operating Officer (COO). Osterloh is assuming the post amidst the company's sale to Lenovo.
Osterloh assumed his new position today and since the company is still finalizing the sale to Lenovo, Osterloh will be reporting to Google. Once the purchase has pushed through completely, he will start reporting to Lenovo.
"We're excited to announce that Rick Osterloh has been named as President and COO of Motorola Mobility," said Jonathan Rosenberg, Motorola's outgoing COO. "Rick will assume the role today, reporting to the Motorola Operating Board at Google until the Lenovo acquisition is complete."
Rosenberg has credited Osterloh with significantly contributing to Motorola's steady improvement after the company was purchased by Google. Osterloh is considered as one of the brightest veterans in Silicon Valley. He used to handle the company's product management group and Motorola executives are confident that he will continue to contribute to the company's growth with his new position.
"Since his return, Rick's had a key role in the company's reinvigoration," Rosenberg said in a blog post. "He's been a guiding visionary on the entire product front and a passionate advocate for our philosophy to focus everything we do on the consumer experience."
Once Motorola comes into Lenovo's fold, Lenovo is planning to further strengthen its efforts and to widen its interests. Today, Lenovo is primarily known as a PC manufacturer and vendor. However, the company has been aggressively pursuing other technologies an interests as well. Lenovo's drive to reinvent itself is evident in the rapid growth of its smartphone business. The company is currently the 4th largest smartphone manufacturer in the business. Rosenberg added that he is confident that Osterloh will be able to help push Motorola and quite possibly Lenovo's smartphone business, into the future.
"I believe that Rick's appointment provides the focused leadership and business continuity needed to steer the organization into the future, and I look forward to continuing in my role as Google liaison and advisor to Motorola through the transition period supporting Rick," Rosenberg added.
Motorola Mobility's sale to Lenovo was first announced back in January. Lenovo offered to pay Google $2.9 billion for the company. While $2.9 billion is by no means a small amount, it still pales in comparison compared to the $12.5 billion that Google paid when it purchased Motorola.
Aside from Motorola, Lenovo was also involved in the high profile purchase of IBM's server business. Lenovo paid a total of $2.3 billion for the purchase.
