A few months ago, Lenovo announced that it was planning to integrate all its phone brands under one umbrella. The development stemmed from the challenges it was facing with Motorola Mobility. The plan would see it release all its phones under the Lenovo Moto brand starting with the Vibe line of mid-range phones. But what we didn’t expect was the inclusion of its ZUK Mobile brand since it was an independent part of the Lenovo group much like Honor is to Huawei.

The news is coming from webo user @Old Cool who announced that there will be no ZUK Z3. His post was then responded to by analyst, Pan Jiutang who confirmed that the ZUK hardware business was going to be shutdown. In his post, Jiutang says the company was a success and managed to amass a large fan-base during its short stint as a phone manufacturer.

ZUK Mobile was founded on May 28, 2015 and just a month from its 2nd anniversary, Lenovo is shutting it down. During its short stint as a mobile manufacturer, it announced three phones: the ZUK Z1, ZUK Z2, ZUK Z2 Pro, and the ZUK Edge.

Earlier this year, leaked images of a phone called the ZUK Edge II Special Edition surfaced online but as it stands now, the blue dual camera beauty will never hit the market. For fans of the brand, the ZUK Edge will be the most recent flagship they can buy.

Another Weibo post by @Zheng Jun reveals the new management at Lenovo following the merger of the mobile brands. ZUK co-founder, Chen Xudong will return to Lenovo’s PC business arm; Qiao Jian will be the new head of Lenovo Mobile China; and Kirk B. Skaugen will remain head of Lenovo’s data center operations.

READ MORE: Lenovo ZUK Z1 Joins The Nougat Train, Gets Android Nougat-Based ZUI 2.5 Stable Version

There is however a ray of hope for ZUK as Lenovo’s VP Alex Chen Yu announced a few days ago that the company’s ZUI will be used for upcoming Moto phones. If this will work out is still unknown.

One of the unique selling points of Motorola phones is the clean and almost stock version of android it comes with. Swapping this for ZUI in’t something that I see working out especially in the US and Europe. So it might probably be limited to the Chinese market just the same way OnePlus has a separate OS for its home market.

(Sources: 1, 2)

The post Lenovo Shuts Down ZUK Mobile, ZUK Edge is Last Mobile Phone appeared first on Gizmochina.

Lenovo admitted a couple of weeks back that it has been difficult turning around the fortunes of the Motorola brand which it acquired in 2014 from Google. The Chinese company is reported to have mapped out plans to incorporate all of its brands under the Moto family. Lenovo has been on a not so impressive path the past few years, losing out to the likes of OPPO, Huawei, and Vivo in the top five spots both in China and globally.

Taking on a struggling brand like Motorola has obviously not helped the company and that may have prompted the decision of the brand to shed off the Motorola and Vibe lineup. Instead, Lenovo will incorporate all its smartphone products under the Moto brand. It may just be impossible to revive the Motorola brand whose fortune continues to plummet by the day, hence the decision to focus on only one brand. Already, the company is said to be planning some releases in Pakistan under the Lenovo moto brand.

Read Also: Lenovo Tab3 8 Plus Press Renders and Specifications Leaked

Lenovo is yet to come out openly to disclose its plans regarding the Motorola and Vibe brands but it is just logical that it sheds off excess luggage and position itself for better results in the future. But then, it is just only a name and the name isn’t as important as the SoC, and other hardware the smartphones feature in determining its market acceptability. Except for a situation where fortune smiles on Lenovo, it might still find itself struggling to ramp up its shipments.

(source, via)

The post Lenovo To Focus On the ‘Lenovo Moto Brand’. Goodbye Vibe Lineup! appeared first on Gizmochina.