China continues to be a market that all OEMs aim to conquer, being the most populous nation in the world and a rising middle class that is eager to spend on gadgets and mobile devices. Motorola, which was purchased by Chinese OEM Lenovo from Google, announced that their flagship Moto X will be available for pre-order in China starting last week, and already there are one million people who signed up to get their hands on the smartphone.
The Moto X, considered by many as one of the best Android devices of late, has received both generally favorable reviews and good sales in the US, and now they are looking to expand to other markets. Starting January 27, Chinese residents could pre-order the flagship device and Motorola has reported that they have received one million pre-orders. This could challenge industry leaders in the country like Xiaomi and Apple, and this re-entry into the Chinese market could prove to be a game-changer for Lenovo and Motorola.
Lenovo’s CEO Yuanquing Yang recently heralded Motorola’s good performance, saying it contributed to the company’s Q3 2014 earnings. For the first time, they were able to sell more than 10 million units in the quarter, and the company’s Mobile Business Group had a huge 118% year-on-year increase in shipments.
Now, whether those one million who signed up will actually buy the Moto X is still anyone’s guess. But it’s a good sign that there is much interest in the smartphone and maybe the OEM can build on that to strategically position itself in China’s emerging market that has tech companies salivating due to its financial potential.
