On Call: Mourning Motorola
Kent German, CNET's cell phones guru, answers your questions about cell phones, services, and accessories and reports on the state of the industry. Send him a question!
You can't talk about Motorola's cell phone division without hearing gloomy predictions about its future. Such a prognosis is understandable considering the litany of bad news that's come out of the company over the past year. Indeed, plummeting earnings, layoffs, executive departures, and Carl Ichan haven't done much for Moto's image. Yet, I'm struck by how the cell phone world appears to be shrugging off the decline of a storied and pioneering company. Instead of hearing a lot of hand wringing over Moto's troubles, many consumer and industry watchers seem to be content to let Moto go.
An old classic.
(Credit: CNET Networks)This sentiment is both unfortunate and uncalled for. While Moto is largely responsible for its declining market share, I don't think it deserves the schadenfreude that goes along with it. We're not talking about some two-bit company; we're talking about a firm that gave us some of the most popular cell phones ever. We can't underestimate the impact of models such as the Startac and the V60, nor can we forget that Moto's iDEN phones continue to power Nextel. And I couldn't have agreed more when PC Magazine's Sascha Segan explained the dangers of a world without Moto. While competitors such as Nokia and Sony Ericsson consider North America an afterthought, Motorola gives equal attention to its home market. Instead of waiting in line behind Europe and Asia to get Moto's phones, usually we get them first. That's a benefit I don't want to lose.
History, however, can be a strength and a hindrance. When we talk about Moto now, we talk more about its past glories than its current hits. Like many of my colleagues, I've criticized the company over the past couple years for that very reason--it's been a long time since it has wowed us with something completely new. Just consider what Moto's record this year. After an exciting CES where it introduced the promising Rokr E8, it barely made a ripple at GSMA and at CTIA, it gave us just the Motorola Z9. Though the Z9 proved to be a satisfying phone, it was more of the same.
Moto's last big hit
(Credit: CNET Networks)I'm confident that Moto has the potential to surprise us, and I'm hopeful that it successfully spins off its cell phone business as it has promised. At CTIA CEO Greg Brown insisted that the company is committed to the mobile business but the Wall Street Journal isn't too optimistic on the prospect. The newspaper estimates that an independent cell phone division would need about $4 billion to support itself. It also reported that Hewlett-Packard executive Todd Bradley, who was being considered to head the new company, has pulled his name from consideration.
I'm not going to postulate about what Moto needs to do to save itself. Frankly, that's already been discussed many times over and I don't think I'd have anything new to say. But let me tell you a story. In late 2005, about a year after the iconic Razr V3 went on sale, I had the chance to ask former CEO Ed Zander what the Razr meant to his company. He replied that it had a huge effect not only on the company's external its external but also its internal morale. Because of the Razr, Zander said, Moto's employees began to believe in the company again and that it could do great things. After riding the Razr wave for so long, I wonder if the company still believes that. Please don't hang up on us Mototola, this is one caller that would hate to see you go.
Would you mourn Motorola? Let us know below.
Kent German is a senior editor for cell phone reviews at CNET. When he's not testing the newest handsets on the market, he's blogging about cell phone news for Crave. In his On Call column, he answers reader questions and gives his take on the rapidly changing mobile industry. E-mail Kent. 
I can say that in my experience Motorola get the best signal strength on AT&T's network and battery life and durability were always praised when compared to other comparable handsets.
It's a shame, but it looks like Moto has already capsized.
I respect the company for what they have given to our industry, they were one of the pioneer's of
wireless in this country for consumers. They gave us the first streamlined PDA, MOTO "Q", and they gave us the First very affordable very thin phone (RaZr). But, BUT!!!! Both of these devices were horrible with their internal components. They're apparently are to cheap to put in decent processors in there devices.
Look to sum it up, in the age of the iPhone all the manufacturer have to step it up, and honestly Motorola hasn't in quite some time.
They road the RaZr and MOTO Q Band Wagon a little to long.
Motorola's best phones are usually in other countries.
However, the software is another matter. I asked about Java when I bought the phone because I wanted to use Gmail mobile. I was told that it has java. I wasn't told that it's not useful for anything, because java apps don't have access to the memory card or the network. Thus, gmail mobile runs but can't get my email, and the MP3 player I installed runs, but can't read the files to play them. It does come with an MP3 player--but it's second rate, as it can't read the ID3 tags on 1/2 the files and doesn't have gapless playback.
Their tech support it also totally useless. The US based support people refuse to help, and the local tech support are clueless morons whom don't understand the product they're supposed to support.
In short, I'm never going to buy Motorola again, and I couldn't care less if they drowned--it's their fault for their restrictive software setup and their dismal customer service.
Cheers,
~Thomas
Why i hope Motorola should stay is because it will save world from racists European companies to dominate the world. European companies have been using American designers to design their phones. US should have good design talent US is world leader in software talent.
All predictions of Motorola dying is European propaganda. I wish a more international company like Motorola stay on scene.
Both finish Nokia and Swedish Ericsson are redneck skin head racist companies, both of which should be discouraged by consumers.
But with the Iphone and other clones that combine hand held computer devices with classic phones, it's over for Motorola, unless they team up with another company capable of bridging the software gap for them.
I bought an Iphone a year ago, plan to get the 3g Iphone in July 2008, and I have never ever looked back.
- by 1waverider June 22, 2008 1:14 AM PDT
- You are all not reading the news and blogs about Motorola. They are busy with other affiliates well known in the broadband industry rolling out the newly approved Wimax wireless networks. You'll see high speed internet beyond DSL or cable and feature packed into their phones. We are on the verge of convergence. Check out DSLReports.com.
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