Lenovo on Friday announced Motorola Mobility President Rick Osterloh is headed for the door as the company undertakes a structural reorganization.
The shuffle will see Lenovo realign its business groups such that its PC Group – newly dubbed the PC & Smart Device business Group – will now include tablets, phablets, gaming and smart home products across Windows, Chrome and Android-based products. The expanded group will be led by Lenovo’s current president and COO Gianfranco Lanci, the company said.
Lenovo is also dropping its Ecosystem and Cloud Services Group in favor of a new Capital and Incubator Group it said will be better positioned to take advantage of opportunities in ecosystem innovation. That business will be headed by George He, the former head of the Ecosystem and Cloud Services Group.
Additionally, Lenovo is shifting its Enterprise Business Group to become a Data Center Group that aims to become a “nimble and disruptive competitor” in that growing market, the company said. The new Data Center team will be headed by Gerry Smith, Lenovo said.
With Osterloh’s departure, Lenovo said its streamlined mobile business will now be run by co-presidents Xudong Chen and Aymar de Lencquesaing. The company’s Motorola Mobility team, which formerly reported to Osterloh, will now operate under de Lencquesaing, who will also serve as chairman and president of Motorola.
The changes will take effect on April 1, the company said.
Lenovo did not specify a reason for Osterloh’s departure, but said simply he “decided to leave Motorola Mobility.”
Earlier this year, Lenovo announced controversial plans to drop the Motorola name from its branding, focusing instead on the name “Moto by Lenovo.”
In Friday’s release, however, Lenovo reassured that the Motorola business remains an integral part of the company.
“The talent and innovation capabilities in Motorola are among Lenovo’s strongest advantages in mobile,” the company said.