Hello again to SA from the mobile brand that started it all - Motorola

The original cellphone brand is about to make another return from the dead in South Africa. The world's first cellphone call was made on a Motorola device in 1973, and the company introduced many South Africans to cellphones in the 1990s.

It was eventually deposed as market leader by Nokia, which itself has subsequently imploded as a smartphone name.

Motorola was split in two, with phones falling under Motorola Mobility and software going to Motorola Solutions.

The Mobility unit was sold to Google, mainly because it wanted the rich patent hoard that went with the deal.

Almost accidentally, it earned critical acclaim with new handsets under the Moto X, G and E labels.

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That wasn't enough to save the business, though, and it was sold to Lenovo, the Chinese company that had also bought IBM's laptop and server businesses.

Motorola has never found a comfortable home there. A Lenovo announcement during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas a few weeks ago that Moto phones would in future carry Lenovo branding suggested the brand would be phased out.

The company quickly clarified its stance: "We are not abandoning the iconic Motorola brand," it said on the official Motorola blog the next day.

"Although it will not be the focus of our marketing, it will continue to be used on packaging and elsewhere, so as to ensure that the rich history and association is never lost."

It spelt out the strategy: "This latest move is all about where we focus our brand marketing efforts in the future. That will be on our two hero smartphone brands: Moto and Vibe, with the Lenovo corporate brand tying all of our consumer and commercial products together more holistically."

Lenovo had been promising for more than a year that it would bring Moto phones to South Africa, but their introduction was held back as the company deliberated on the future of the brand. Finally, plans are again under way to bring Motorola back.

The decision has been confirmed by Eric Cador, the company's senior vice-president and president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, who was in South Africa this week.

"South Africa and Africa are a big play for Lenovo, and we see Africa in general as a large phone opportunity," he said.

"But by the same token we don't want it to be merely tactical. It's about putting a team together and launching properly. We have now put a team in this geography, and the phones will be here within a quarter or two. During the second half of the year, you will definitely see Lenovo Moto in different form factors," said Cador.

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Nigeria last year became the first Lenovo smartphone market in Africa, with the launch there of the Vibe range. It quickly took a 5% market share of smartphone sales. Kenya followed at the end of the year, and three southern African countries will be added by March.

And South Africa?

"We are leaving the best for the second half of the year," said Cador.

"A lot of back-end work has to be done to launch successfully in this territory, from services and supply chain to partnerships. We'll do things properly."

The Moto will join two other major Chinese smartphone brands, Huawei and Xiaomi, in South Africa. Both have wrestled with the unfamiliarity of their names to South Africans. That is one obstacle the Moto won't have to overcome.

Goldstuck is the founder of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @art2gee