May 23, 2016 10:02 AM EDT By Vinay Patel, UniversityHerald Reporter

One of the most prominent smartphones from Motorola over the past few years, the Moto X smartphones have fans going berserk about its upcoming 2016 release.

However, if speculations doing rounds online are anything to go by, Moto X fans are in for a huge disappointment as Lenovo-owned Motorola might not release a new Moto X 2016 citing its decision to drop the Moto X brand to promote a new one this year.

It looks like the Schaumburg-based telecommunication giant may be planning on changing course with 2016's upcoming smartphones.

Based on the marketing material spotted by VentureBeat, the purported change is not a very significant one; in fact, Motorola reportedly just looked down two letters further down the alphabet to come up with its new branding dubbed Moto Z.

Although it is not a common practice for smartphone makers to change up their flagship lineup's branding, this will not be the first time this year; in fact it will be third such occurrence. Breaking the trend of using One brand, Motorola opted to dub its 2016 star device HTC 10.

Ironically, Sony chose an exactly opposite path to Motorola, moving to Xperia X from Xperia Z.

While it may seem sensible to take such rumors with a grain of salt, the aforementioned report cites this piece of news comes from Evan Blass, a renowned leaker. Apparently, the reports may have some credibility after all. As far as the date when the Moto Z could potentially hit the shelves is concerned, Gotta Be Mobile speculates a June 9 unveiling at an event held by Motorola.

Fans will need to wait and watch if Motorola actually uses the new branding. Whether dubbed as Moto X or Moto Z, the upcoming device is expected to boast an array of awe-inspiring features.

Do you think the upcoming Moto X or Moto Z will be one of the most wanted Android-based smartphones this year? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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