Lenovo Shutters Legion Gaming Phone Division

Lenovo is pulling out of the gaming phone business to focus on its other product lines.

Credit: Lenovo

The Chinese tech giant told Android Authority that it has shuttered its Legion gaming phone division, and that there won't be any further releases from the line.

"Lenovo is discontinuing its Android-based Legion mobile gaming phones as part of a wider business transformation and gaming portfolio consolidation," said a spokesperson. "As a leader in gaming devices and solutions, Lenovo is committed to advancing the gaming category across form factors, as well as focusing on where it can bring the most value to the global gaming community."

Lenovo hadn't released a gaming phone since August 2022's Legion Y70, leading many to speculate that it had already shuttered that part of its business prior to the announcement. The Legion Y70 supposedly didn't do very well in terms of sales, with it only being released in Asia and Europe. Its last flagship, meanwhile, was the Legion Y90, which was released in February 2022. Lenovo also didn't market the Legion brand as heavily in markets outside China, which could have resulted in the not-so-favourable sales figures, as Engadget notes.

Lenovo Legion Y70. Credit: Lenovo

The move could prove to be a huge blow for the niche gaming phone market as there aren't many other manufacturers left in the segment. Apart from Lenovo, the only other major players are Asus with its Republic of Gamers brand, Nubia Red Magic and Xiaomi-backed Black Shark, which also isn't doing so well.

Black Shark conducted multiple rounds of layoffs since August last year, impacting hundreds of workers. In January, it was reported that the company was experiencing "tremendous operational difficulties", and wouldn't be able to pay the full severance owed to the laid off workers.

Lenovo is likely to divert its resources toward better-selling product lines, such as its Moto brand of phones.

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• Lenovo has shuttered its Legion gaming phone division, and said there won't be any future releases.

• "Lenovo is discontinuing its Android-based Legion mobile gaming phones as part of a wider business transformation and gaming portfolio consolidation," said a spokesperson.

• The Chinese tech giant is likely to divert its resources toward better-selling product lines, such as its Moto brand of phones.