Vibe Smartphones Not Being Discontinued By Lenovo

An important sub-brand in the Lenovo mobile family, Vibe phones will coexist with the Moto line.

Last week, there were reports surfacing online stating that Lenovo was to discontinue its Vibe series of smartphones to focus on Motorola’s line of smartphones.

Lenovo, the premier Chinese PC and smartphone maker acquired Motorola last year for $2.91 billion and as part of the merger, the company said that it would rely on Motorola for designing, developing, and manufacturing its smartphone products.

Accordingly, Lenovo began integrating its own mobile arm, the Mobile Business Group (MBG) into Motorola Mobility earlier this year.

This recent ‘report’ supposedly quoting Chen Xudong, President of Lenovo’s Mobile Business Group, claimed the company to be abandoning the Vibe lineup of smartphones.

Apparently the report was someone’s pipe dream. Lenovo was quick to react and clear the air. An official statement issued by Lenovo, “Vibe remains an important brand in the Lenovo mobile family and we plan to continue to expand and grow the franchise in select markets around the world”, nixes the fallacious ‘report’ about the Vibe smartphones being discontinued.

That said, the innocuous inclusion of the phrase “select markets” does suggest though, that Lenovo may indeed pull the plug in some countries and persevere in others — which could be the reason for the errant rumor.

In India, Lenovo is the fourth biggest smartphone vendor. Their Vibe range includes the P1, P1m and recently launched S1, which fall in the relative price bracket of Moto G and Moto X Play.

According to a recent report, Lenovo is striving to take the second spot in India and is looking to almost double the local production to 10 million units annually by next year. The report also adds that Lenovo plans to export from its Chennai facility and will make more models in India.

While Motorola is a way more established brand of mobile devices (and their recent success with the manufactured-for-Google Nexus 6 adds to the lustre), Lenovo ought to stay focussed on their Vibe line too, as it allows a multi-pronged salvo in this crowded marketplace.

One thing’s for certain though, whatever their strategy be, Lenovo the brand is here to stay. And it’s a good thing!

Originally published at Chip-Monks.