Andrea Monleone heads Motorola in Spain and Portugal In one of the most crucial moments for the company. A telecommunications engineer from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and an MBA from IE Business School, she has gained more than two decades of experience in the mobile phone industry, a career that began precisely at Motorola, where she joined as an intern in 2004. It is one of the professional episodes that Monleone relates with great affection, because it was her gateway to this sector and, in a way, she says, “You have closed the circle“On his return almost twenty years later.
From one stage to another, giants such as… blackberry, HuaweiSamsung, OPPO and XiaomiWhich gave him a complete view of the market and its cycles: from the beginning Smartphones To the current era of artificial intelligence and foldable shapes.
MONLEON He returned to Motorola in 2023 With a clear mission: Repositioning the company in a competitive market such as the Spanish market. After two years, the curve began to appear. According to data presented by Lenovo this week, Motorola has achieved two years of sustainable growth and has already reached a level 7.16% share Iberian Peninsula. This is progress compared to the 6% she recorded just one year ago, but it is a practical change when compared to the situation in which she took office, when the rate was less than 1%.
Moreover, apart from the numbers, Motorola has completed its rollout on all channels —retailAnd operators and companies – and began to reap the fruits of the poetic labor that was, according to Monleone, “the first big challenge” of this new phase.
It is clear that the Renaissance Project is no longer a promise, but has been translated into tangible results, a renewed strategy, and renewed policies. Updated catalog With a lot of emphasis on designas evidenced by the recently announced Motorola Edge 70 Pantone Color of the Year 2026 Cloud Dancer or its most popular line, the Razr foldable devices, a family that achieved something unthinkable not so long ago: Attract iOS users to Android.
We talked a little over a year ago and I had just joined. How have these months been after you have fully settled down? What happened since then?
When we last spoke, he was on the verge of landing. During this time we worked on two fronts. Firstly, in Creating the organization: We started with a very small team and completing this structure was one of the big challenges. And in parallel in the commercial part. There we are very happy that we have now increased all the capabilities that we planned We are present on one hundred percent of the channels in Spain: retailAnd communications as well as companies, which for me is one of the main focuses. In fact, we are already seeing very positive results. I would say those have been the big milestones over this year and a half.
So we were talking about 6% market share. Has this number changed?
It has risen. We are above seven percent We are very happy. It is a very competitive market, with many fluctuations from year to year, and we have been able to not only maintain our numbers, but increase them as well. Above all, to complete that poetic ability that burdens us at the beginning of the project and allows us to reach all channels.
I return to the same question from our previous conversation. In early 2024, Lenovo’s head of international markets said he would “bet a salary” that in just three years Motorola would become the world’s third best-selling brand, after Apple and Samsung. Will you get there?
Let’s go to the race. It is true that there are very mature markets where Motorola’s position was already good a couple of years ago and has continued to rise significantly. In Latin America, for example, we saw growth of 200%, and in Europe, the Middle East and Africa we exceeded 25%.. We are an ambitious company and we don’t want anything else for Motorola. Growth is tremendous in almost all regions We will not be left behind.
What role does Spain play within this global strategy? Is it a priority market?
Yes, it is a state of focus. The maturity I mentioned before has occurred mainly outside the EMEA region. In the EMEA region, a year and a half ago we started focusing on the development of all countries, and this is where Iberia comes into play. It remains a priority area: we cannot reach that third global position that I mentioned if we do not have strong capacity in every country. Therefore, The EMEA region has a global focus, and Spain will also be part of the EMEA region For the next two years.
Let’s talk about the product. Competition on Android is very intense. What makes Motorola different today compared to other manufacturers?
I see several columns. One is the selling point. I insist a lot on this because A customer should recognize a Motorola product without spending five minutes asking, “What brand is this?”. This helped us a lot. partnership With Pantone, it’s not just because of the color, but also because of how it expresses design, texture and communication in the store. It’s a key differentiation.
Outside of the consumer market, and within the business world, our value proposition is very different as well: We’re not just talking about Devicesbut who programmingUnlike many competitors who focus on consumption and have not developed such important tools for B2B.
Finally, Shepherds. Lenovo is aiming for Motorola to appear in the same places as the parent brand: Formula 1, MotoGP, FIFA, European League… It’s a very strong level of visibility that sets us apart a lot and brings us closer to the sectors that matter to us, as with Concert music festival (CMF) To reach young people.
What is the Motorola consumer profile? Have you evolved?
Our strategy is closely linked to the concept Lifestyle technology: get close to A consumer who appreciates design and recognizes the brand and its devices. In terms of ages, it is completely accidental. Yes, we have strengthened the focus on younger audiences through some sponsorship, but the idea is not to segment by age, but by lifestyle.
Foldable products are probably your most popular product. Is this category uniform?
inside our file, definitely. This year we have launched more terminals in this sector with the aim of Democratize italthough it is still high quality. We want it to stop being just the iconic, highest-priced product to expand the category.
For us The foldable is here to stay. It is iconic and will continue to be developed: next year, of course, we will launch new models again.
Do you have any interesting data about the Razr’s performance?
Yes: Our foldable device is the device that allows us to transition users from iOS to Android. This is very powerful, because the iOS ecosystem is more closed and difficult to move. A different and disruptive product achieves this. Furthermore, in North America we rank first in this category. We will do something right.
Clearly, 2025 was Samsung’s year. What results can you expect with the Motorola Edge 70?
It’s a trend we didn’t want to miss. Our goal is always to listen to the customer, and this has been a need discovered in numerous market studies. The results have been very positive since launch. I think we did something very good: So that the customer does not have to give up something important like the battery. Everyone asks about it. We completely redesigned the phone to make it possible, and this ability to innovate explains the good reviews and great acceptance. It’s recent, but the first numbers are pretty good.
What other market trends are now impacting your product decisions?
One is perception User resignation When moving to certain sectors. We interact very well there.
The other, of course, is artificial intelligence. We are starting to show how we can help the end customer and how Smartphone You can get a new role in your life. We started with Personal assistantbut there is still a long way to go to get the concept across and communicate it well.
Which AI capabilities provide the most value? Is it really being used?
Our goal, as with the foldable ones, is Democratize it: Any Motorola user will have a similar experience. What is most relied upon is the part of Personal assistant.
In the professional field it is used a lot. In personal life, it is more difficult to integrate it, but we see that the user is starting to adopt it, especially to manage notifications. There is still development to be done for full integration, but this is the way.
Are there any other functions you want to improve?
I will stick to personal assistance. The camera part also uses a lot of technology, but the user does not perceive it as artificial intelligence because it is intangible: take the picture and that’s it. On the other hand, when A pop up From Moto AI, it clearly specifies that this function comes from the AI engine.
What is the biggest business challenge facing the manufacturer? Smartphones?
the artificial intelligence. The challenge is how to reach the end customer using the tools we have been working on for two years. There is a lot of innovation, resources and investment behind it, the question is what goes beyond that Early adoptersmake the user truly live and use this value.
What does it look like to lead a technology company in such a changing sector? What is the most difficult strategic decision you have made?
He’s hilarious. You never get bored. In the end, it goes so fast that you always feel like it will never be the last decision of the month, that there will always be another decision that will pass over you like a wave.
In this sense I’m lucky that it’s not difficult for me to make decisions. I think it’s valuable, because in this sector you can’t afford analysis paralysis.
The most complex decisions are those that… file: Choose whether you want to bring a product or not. Sometimes you have a week to make a decision and the effect is immediate. These are very important decisions in a very short time.
We take out the crystal ball. How do you imagine development? Smartphone In the next five years?
We will have to see the proofs of concept developed over these two or three years New form factors. It is true that the folding — whether the form We stand Like him fold— It took longer than we expected, especially because of the technical issues that we already talked about, because it is a very complex format in terms of screens. The display is still the determining factor when considering other form factors.
However, I will venture to talk about more flexible formulas.
Maybe a “tri-fold”?
(Laughs) It’s very trendy. It’s an example. But also curves. Screens that can be converted in other ways.
Anything on the horizon?
They are currently proofs of concept, not commercialized, but are starting to be seen in laboratories. Not all of them will eventually become a reality, but they help understand where the industry is headed.
Do you think we’ll end up carrying something other than a mobile phone? Will he disappear? Smartphone As we know it?
Yes, of course. But it won’t be in two years. That’s fast, but not that fast. But there will be a new model, I’m sure. I don’t think it will arrive for ten years because the technology, especially batteries, is still limited.. Adoption will also take some time, but technologically there is still development to create something to replace Smartphone.