Here's what nobody is saying about Motorola: People are still buying RAZRs. They may not hold the brand cache they once had, but Motorola still makes popular and recognizable phones. The brand isn't dead, not by a long shot. But their fall from grace in the U.S. market at a crucial time, as smartphones and multimedia phones began to take over the market, means that they will have to take some drastic measures to catch up worldwide, and hold onto their current domestic leadership position.
No plans in sight
Today, we listened in on a conference call with heads of numerous Motorola divisions, but the only handset we heard about was the Motorola DH02, an internet tablet with DVB-H mobile TV and GPS navigation. Oh, and it won't be available in the U.S., though we'll see it in person next week at the largest phone show in the country, CTIA 2008. We heard about WiMAX and LTE devices, and even Femtocell devices, of which we're a huge fan. But we didn't hear a peep from the nascent Motorola Mobile Devices division. Maybe this is a good sign. Maybe the handset folks are keeping something interesting under wraps. Probably not, but it could happen.
If you broke it, buy it
Motorola needs to use their existing talent in mobile technology and pair this with better design. Better interface design, as well as better hardware design. For the interface, we think this is a no-brainer. Nvidia has a gorgeous phone interface ready to go, they just need a good phone hardware manufacturer to produce it. Check out our video of the Nvidia APX 2500 prototype chipset and interface here. Motorola certainly has the wireless chops to build a platform beneath the Nvidia prototype. This would also fill the gap in Motorola's multimedia phone offerings, one of the key categories for the manufacturer moving forward.
The smell of fresh BlackBerries
The other category will be smartphones. The Motorola Q9 is a perfectly fine Windows Mobile smartphone, and it fares well against its current competition. But heavier competition looms on the horizon, as Sony Ericsson and HTC have new Windows Mobile phones coming to the U.S. market that promise great strides in making Windows Mobile even more usable. It's time for Motorola to improve not only their Windows Mobile smartphone hardware, but also take some steps to improve the interface. Improvements in the Q's battery life shows Motorola is taking RIM's BlackBerry seriously as a threat, but the current lineup of BlackBerry devices, from the Pearl through the Curve and the 8800 series, all seriously outclass the Motorola smartphone. Moto needs to do more than play catch-up. They need to leap ahead.
In the end, we would certainly not write Motorola off. If for no other reason, the manufacturer has shown a dedication to the U.S. market that most of the top tier manufacturers haven't matched. Hardly a high-end model is released without making a stateside appearance, with a few notable exceptions, but what other manufacturer is still supporting iDen? Who else makes so many phones for every major American carrier? After the Star Tac, the RAZR, we think it's believable that Motorola could pull another hit out of their sleeve.
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