Motorola is a bigger deal than many of us realize. It holds a second-place market share position in several countries, and is extremely popular across massive markets like Brazil and India. It's even become the top unlocked phone brand in the U.S. And Motorola's new President, Sergio Buniac, thinks it can go much further — and has a proven plan to work with. I had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Buniac for about a half hour over some espresso and pão de queijo, which really is how I aim to conduct all of my interviews going forward. We discussed where Motorola stands today, where it's headed, and how it plans to replicate its successful Latin American strategy globally. We were also joined by Rudi Kalil, Vice President of Motorola North America, to provide further insight into Motorola's goals here. Verizon is offering the Pixel 4a for just $10/mo on new Unlimited lines A success story in Latin America After 20 years with Motorola, Buniac came to this President role from his previous position as SVP of Motorola's Latin America business segment, where he oversaw the company's impressive growth in the region. Starting from when Lenovo's acquisition of Motorola completed in late 2014, Buniac and the rest of the company made moves to capitalize on its strengths and rapidly grow in the region. It was a dual-pronged approach, going after large and competitive countries like Brazil, Argentina and Mexico in a metered way, while aggressively going after smaller and less-developed markets like Chile, Colombia and Peru — the latter group in particular containing couple dozen distinct countries that had great conditions for growth.

With just a couple years of Moto G and Moto E sales in Latin America, Motorola attained an impressive market position. By the end of 2017, Buniac says, Motorola reached a No. 1 or No. 2 position in the top seven Latin American markets. Motorola's growth last year was 20 times the market's overall growth — 40% versus 2%. In the "premium" segment, which is defined as the $400-550 range, Motorola moved from just 4% of the market to 30%. Despite that amazing position, he specifically says that Motorola's view has "never been 'let's be No. 1 next week' — it's a long-term investment and commitment." He notes that Motorola has gained impressive market share, but now the goal is the improve customer engagement through improved support, better retail services, beta access to apps and more consistent software updates. Moto G6 series hands-on preview: Hello photo Motorola's Latin America operation is completely centered around the popularity of the Moto G. Its price range of $250-350 is perfect for the overall market conditions, and the numbers show it: Buniac has no reservations about calling it "the most-sold phone in Latin America right now." Motorola has already sold 70 million Moto Gs since the line's humble beginnings, but the ambition with the launch of the Moto G6 line is to reach 100 million total sales. That's a massive number, but one you can see Motorola achieving if it stays on this path. Moving to new markets Motorola is the No. 1 unlocked phone brand in the U.S., but it wants to keep growing. Seeing so much sustained growth in Latin America, Buniac wants to replicate that in North America — that's where Mr. Kalil comes in. He has years of experience across the technology industry, in particular with mobile carriers, which is extremely important when you're trying to make moves in the U.S. and Canada in particular. Kalil very proudly states that Motorola is the top-selling unlocked phone brand in the U.S., driven primarily by the Moto G. But the mission is to at least reach the No. 3 position overall — a bold expectation, considering it's currently in the 4 or 5 spot, with roughly 4% share. Still, Kalil has some footholds to work with: Motorola's growth in 2017 was up 50% from the previous year, and it sees particular strength in the Moto Z/Z2 Play and Moto X4 alongside the ever-present Moto G. The Moto E is a mini success story in its own right, being a huge hit with prepaid carriers and taking a top-3 position in its price category. Moto E5 and E5 Plus hands-on preview: Your next cheap phone