Motorola was acquired by Lenovo from Google back in 2014, and at that time, Larry Page was the CEO of Google, and he was the chief architect of the deal. He even stated that “Motorola is in great hands with Lenovo, a company that’s all-in on making great devices,” but Motorola under Lenovo is all over the place and it's getting only worse with every passing day.
Before the deal concluded, Motorola had a clear-cut strategy with its Moto E smartphones aimed at the entry-level users, the Moto G series for the budget conscious people, and the Moto X for the heavy-specced fans out there. However, Lenovo introduced a new lineup- the Moto Z series with the modular concept and it was immensely successful, killing the Moto X lineup.
But Moto by Lenovo isn't done yet. A leaked product roadmap of Motorola revealed that there are lot more surprises awaiting this year from them and one surprise has arrived in the form of entry-level smartphones- the Moto C and the Moto C Plus. Motorola is touting these phones as 'Ultimate Essentials,' as they fulfil the basic stuff for the first time smartphone user.
Now a serious question will raise in your mind- Is Motorola killing the Moto E lineup, same as what they did with Moto X series? No, that's not the case. The Moto E series will exist and the Moto E4, E4 Plus will be unveiled this year. And yes, the Moto X is making a comeback in the form of Moto X4.
If you observe the image carefully, there are two more smartphones- the Moto gS and Moto gS+. These phones might be the upgrades to the Moto G5, and Moto G5 Plus released just two months ago. The Moto gS+ will sport a dual camera setup at the back, while the Moto gS will be a stripped down version.
Motorola will release a total of nine smartphones this year, and the releases will be done and dusted before August itself. And there may be another couple of smartphones in the Moto M series exclusively for Asian markets at the end of 2017, but there was no mentioning about the successor to Moto M in the roadmap though.
Coming to the Motorola's 'Ultimate Essentials,'- Moto C and Moto C Plus, they are the ultra-affordable Moto smartphones released till date. Both the phones will be catered into the entry-level segment and are designed for the first smartphone buyers.
Both the devices will surely make it to the Indian market after all India is the key market for both Motorola and Lenovo. In India, Xiaomi is ruling the budget segment with the Redmi series of phones such as the Xiaomi Redmi 4A.
The Moto C series is made official in some European markets last week. The Moto C features a 5-inch FWVGA display, quad-core MediaTek MT6737 chipset, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, 5MP rear camera, 2MP front-facing camera, and a 2350mAh battery. The Moto C Plus has the same screen of 5-inch with better resolution of 720p. It is powered by the same chipset, 1GB/2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, better cameras, and a beefy 4000mAh battery.
The Moto C is available in two variants- 3G and 4G for 89 Euro (approx. Rs. 6250), while the 4G variant costs 99 Euro (approx. Rs. 6950). The Moto C Plus costs 119 Euro (approx. Rs. 8400).
The Moto E4 series will be released at any point of time with a slightly bigger price tag of around 200 Euro. That said, Motorola's product expansion may be a wrong step, but both Motorola and Lenovo are pretty much clear on what they are up to. Also, the Moto C series will give a stiff competition to Xiaomi in India when they release officially.
