So Lenovo guts its Motorola work force based in Chicago by 25 percent as part of a big cost-cutting move. What’s next? The top mobile executive within Lenovo says he envisions one brand, not two. Right now, Lenovo has its own smartphones then there is Motorola. What name will prevail? What group will dominate?

Oh, you also might find interesting which market Lenovo considers most important outside of China.

Mobile ops at Lenovo have been hit by turbulence repeatedly in recent months as smartphone shipments plunged and losses mounted. Meanwhile, the company continues to roll out an alphabet-soup list of phones from K to Z, a new Zuk line in China (including one with a transparent display), and Motorola’s latest.

Brand confusion, you ask? How about manufacturing challenges? Distribution?

Will one brand help? That appears to be the plan of Lenovo hotshot Chen Xudong.

Shortly after unveiling a new phone lineup at a big tech showcase in Beijing, Lenovo chair and CEO Yang Yuanqing shook up mobile by ousting longtime executive Liu Jun. Xudong took over, being named chair of Motorola which Lenovo paid nearly $3 billion to acquire last year from Google. Chen is one of Lenovo’s rising stars, a veteran of the intense competition in China where Lenovo still does the bulk of its business and someone assigned to multiple roles, including leadership of the Lenovo Internet-of-Things focused ShenQi. (See bio below)

“Chen Xudong, who has proven his ability to create a leader in China and has demonstrated his entrepreneurial spirit by becoming leader of our Internet-focused ShenQi spinoff, will become the new leader of MBG and also Chairman of Motorola Mobility,” Lenovo said when he was promoted.

Then came the latest earnings report last week that included huge Motorola losses. Lenovo is cutting 3,200 jobs (including 230 in the Triangle where the company maintains its global executive headquarters), but a lot of them are within Motorola as Yang said he was determined to bring down costs.

Now comes word about there eventually being one brand of Lenovo phone.

In India for the announcement that Lenovo would begin manufacturing smartphones in that country, Xudong was asked by news site LiveMint about branding.

“Will Lenovo and Motorola smartphone brands become one?”

“We are trying our best to leverage both (the brands) in the short term and for the long term we are still under discussion, but both brands are strong in different territories, so we want to leverage that as much as possible. In the long term, both the brands can be combined to become one,” Chen said.

As far as how the integration of Motorola within Lenovo is going, Chen said the process is ongoing.

“We have lot of technology and engineering expertise and IP under Motorola. We are actually integrating more resources into Motorola to make sure we have better leverage at the capability in Motorola,” he said. “We are also leveraging Lenovo’s supply chain and sales network. So, a lot of things are happening at the back end as well as front end.”

Then there is the question of which markets are most important for smartphones to Lenovo?

China remains No. 1 where competition is fierce and Lenovo has launched a new sold-online-only brand called “Zuk.” But Lenovo also has found success in India through “flash sales” of phones in batches of several thousand. Now comes the decision to manufacture phones in India.

So how big a deal is India to Lenovo?

“The India market is the most important outside China,” Chen said. “Although it is not the largest market, it will become the No. 2 market in the next three years.”

What’s next for Motorola?

Stay tuned. Chen appears to have a big plan.

Read the full story at:

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/3ENyuLPAMgWfV64rP9S3BK/Indian-market-the-most-important-outside-China-Lenovos-Che.html

Who is Chen Xudong?

From Lenovo’s website:

Chen Xudong is senior vice president of Lenovo Group and president for Lenovo China Region and the Asia Pacific Emerging Markets region. Mr. Chen, who oversees Lenovo’s business and operations in this geography, has rich experience in sales and marketing, commercial operation, quality management and channel management in the industry and holds an international perspective. Prior to this, he was President of the Lenovo China Region.

Mr. Chen joined Lenovo in 1993, and served as various leading roles including Regional Sales, Commerce, Quality, and Channel Management. He was appointed as vice president of Lenovo Group in April 2005, and took charge of Lenovo’s channel sales and consumer business for Asia Pacific in 2006. From December 2008 to December 2009, he was responsible for the strategy and operations of Lenovo’s Asia Pacific and Russia regions, and then moved to Lenovo’s Emerging Market Group. Mr.Chen has served as the general manager of Lenovo China region since December 2009, and was appointed to senior vice president of Lenovo Group in October 2011.

Mr.Chen graduated from Peking University with a bachelor’s degree in probability statistics in 1989 and a master’s degree in the same discipline in 1992. Mr. Chen also holds an EMBA degree from China Europe International Business School.