Motorola product plans in spotlight following job cuts

There were questions about the future of Lenovo’s Moto-branded device business, after job cuts in the US were linked with possible product culls.

According to initial reports, the vendor laid-off half of its workforce in Chicago, although this figure was subsequently disputed. The development engineering team was said to have been particularly hard-hit, leading to the possibility products would be impacted.

A potential casualty was the Moto X5 smartphone, the successor to the Moto X4 (unveiled at IFA2017), as the company focused its efforts on the E, G and Z lines.

The company was also said to be focusing its “mod” smartphone extension line on products which have the potential to generate profit, at the expense of more experimental peripherals. A VR mod was recently mooted, which would join existing products including 360-degree camera, projector and smart speaker.

However, it was subsequently reported the company, while confirming layoffs, had said the X smartphone line would live on: rumours suggest the latest iteration is at an advanced stage of development anyway.

It is no secret Lenovo is struggling in the mobile market, although it has also positioned the sector as a future growth driver. And there were positives: the Moto-branded line registered shipment growth in North America and Western Europe, with Latin America remaining strong.