Telefónica Spain creates the Hardware and Devices Directorate, a new unit within B2C that brings together the company’s entire terminal, device and hardware equipment business under a single direction. Alberto Ruano, until now general director of Lenovo for Spain and Portugal, joins Telefónica to lead it as of October 1. He will report to Óscar Candiles, Chief Revenue Officer of Telefónica Spain, and will be part of its Management Committee.
The new management will manage Telefónica’s device business from start to finish: the portfolio, the relationship and negotiation with manufacturers, the design of the offer, marketing, logistics, procurement, the supply chain and economic control.
A business that is growing strongly
The decision comes at a good time. Between January and August 2026, Movistar sold 900,000 devices, 10% more than in the same period of the previous year. The growth comes mainly from outside the smartphone: 42% of the devices sold so far this year already correspond to other categories, six points more than a year ago. Among those that grow the most in units, smart watches (+29%), small and large appliances (+28%), tablets (+29%) and televisions (+26%) stand out.
Movistar today offers more than 800 references: smartphones, tablets, smart watches, televisions, image and sound equipment, consoles, laptops, activity bracelets and small and large appliances. Two proposals have been added to this catalog in the last year that explain a good part of the momentum. Movistar Swap, launched in September 2025, allows you to enjoy a device for a monthly fee and decide, from month 24 on smartphones and month 36 on some laptops and tablets, whether to renew it for the latest model or continue with the current one: Movistar collects the old equipment, delivers the new one and reviews the returned one to recondition or recycle it.
«Customers no longer come to Movistar just for a cell phone. They come for the living room TV, the children’s tablet, the laptop to work from home or the watch they go running with. That change is already in our figures,” explains Borja Ochoa, president of Telefónica Spain.
Increased weight of smart devices
The company wants to go further and that is why a specific unit is created. The objective is for the devices to reach the weight that other businesses that Telefónica has built with its own entity within the group already have, such as television in the home or digital solutions for companies.
Movistar today offers more than 800 references: smartphones, tablets, smart watches, televisions, image and sound equipment, consoles, laptops, activity bracelets and small and large appliances
«We take on the challenge of being the best way for citizens to access digital technologies, which includes the best and most complete range of devices. We know how to bring valuable services closer to people: we already did it with television in homes. We want to do the same with devices. That is why we give them their own unit, with their team and their ambition, and that is why we have looked for someone like Alberto. He knows this sector like few others, he has managed two of the biggest technology brands in Spain and he knows what a customer expects when they buy a device,” adds Ochoa.
Alberto Ruano points out: «Movistar has something very valuable: a daily relationship with millions of homes and companies that trust it. My challenge is that this relationship is also the best gateway to technology for all of them, with the best product, in the best conditions and at the time they need it.
