Youtube channel Linus Tech Tips characterizes Motorola phones and ThinkPad laptops as "zombie brands"

[Redaktion]

In a recent video, tech Youtuber Linus Sebastian was talking about an accessory brand that makes webcams, bringing up the term "zombie brand" as a term for established brand names that have been taken over by a Chinese holding company and are basically undead. When a few examples of such "zombie brands" pop up on the screen, surprisingly, the Lenovo owned Motorola phones and ThinkPad laptops are among them.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Youtube-channel-Linus-Tech-Tips-characterizes-Motorola-phones-and-ThinkPad-laptops-as-zombie-brands.864426.0.html

[Dave Starmer]

Why is this article even necessary?
Talk about click bait.
I want my time back please.

[Imaraptor]

This is unnecessary.
It was a slight joke, but I think it's fair to say that Lenovo is for sure marketing subpar equipment under the Thinkpad name (same with Motorola) and up charging based on name recognition from yesteryear. It may not be the best illustrations, but saying this isn't factual is rather questionable. In the article you all literally write that these brands have been absorbed by Chinese brands and I bet without googling you could not tell me Motorola's latest flagship device. It's because they probably don't make one and market it as such. Instead they make midrange to low-end tech and hope older or less-informed people buy it solely based on the name.
To each their own I guess.

[prolog]

This is unnecessary.
It was a slight joke, but I think it's fair to say that Lenovo is for sure marketing subpar equipment under the Thinkpad name (same with Motorola) and up charging based on name recognition from yesteryear. It may not be the best illustrations, but saying this isn't factual is rather questionable. In the article you all literally write that these brands have been absorbed by Chinese brands and I bet without googling you could not tell me Motorola's latest flagship device. It's because they probably don't make one and market it as such. Instead they make midrange to low-end tech and hope older or less-informed people buy it solely based on the name.
To each their own I guess.

Hm, that's not really true for Motorola currently (I do believe it was for a while), but they've recently gotten more into flagship devices again afaik, and the razr foldable phones are definitely flagship and competitive in their own right.

[Think IBM]

Think branding use to mean the best quality, the best durability, the best design.  Lenovo and Think are now almost the same thing just above average. Same with Motorola.   Relatively speaking I can see how someone would say they have captured a brand and abandoned the original essence and spirit of the products in order to lower the price.  Something the original brand would have never done.  I personally miss the old days where a Motorola or Think device meant no compromises on device design.

[jannet limb]

Are personal youtube comments presented as technical articles now? Was this purposeful speculation to harm LTT?

[Matt Schmitt]

This Linus guy is not worth the attention:

Search YT for:

The Problem with Linus Tech Tips: Accuracy, Ethics, & Responsibility

Did Linus Do It Again? ... Misleading Laptop Buyers

[eugk]

Not sure if notebookcheck is aware; Lenovo makes more than Motorola phones and ThinkPad laptops. They make a lot of subpar products that you wouldn't think has anything to do with Motorola or ThinkPads.

e.g. Thinkplus Livepods LP5 (what a familiar design eh), ThinkPlus X15, Lenovo XiaoXin webcams and mice, etc.

Those would be the kind of products LTT would have been referring to.

[nocturn9x]

Ridiculous, clickbait article. Is this garbage what passes for tech journalism these days? You should be sued for slander. Pathetic

[Connor]

Uhmmm, this is quite weak reporting. Yes, I agree with Linus, because they are zombie brands. A former shell of their old self. No clue how down bad you have to be with content to write this desperation up...

[IAmAndre]

This is by far the most ridiculous article I've seen on notebookcheck. To boil this down, you are taking one sentence out of a 20-minute video to create an article on a more popular channel, hoping to get more visibility from it? It's actually not even a sentence, it's one word (Lenovo) that isn't even pronounced by Linus, then ignore all the other brands mention to bring up the fact that he owns a laptop company. That's so far-fetched that it becomes comical. I know it's hard to come up with content idea but this is rock bottom.

[hesaidnope]

This was a valid article. The commentary was worthwhile and accurate. I like LTT and find it interesting that the video was edited and re-uploaded. I feel that LTT as a channel lives in a very charmed area of tech commentary. Their access to high end gear is envied throughout YouTube. Just look at all of the LTT clones, some valid taking Mr. Sebastian's formula and tweaking it to move the niche industry of YouTuber tech-talk forward while others just soullessly imitate the quirky tone and irreverence and hope a company like Lenovo sends them some free tech to "review/promote."
I think ultimately, if one looks deeply enough, LTT has more eyes on it than its humble roots betray. Keeping such a powerful outlet accountable is valuable and newsworthy.
There are some minutiae-based pieces of news here on the website (how many nits a certain phone claims to provide in direct sunlight vs. actual performance for example) that aren't validated by the mistaken party so quickly, if at all. If I don't find an article here newsworthy, I will move on knowing that someone somewhere has been enriched by its existence.
YouTube is massive in its influence and calling out a big player *is* totally something I'd like to see more of here and online.

[JoeShmo]

Linus is a damned idiot, period.

[jkhjhjbj]

"Zombie brand" = brand that lost its "soul" after it was sold. He is right, both are mid, not interesting, boring. ThinkBook at least is holding up, but audience of Motorola is unknown.

[hugh mungus]

Slow news day?

Linus is a damned idiot, period.

Thinkpad fanboy spotted