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What's next for Motorola?
May 8, 2007 -
Icahn's showdown with Motorola reaches final hour
May 7, 2007
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As part of this new product suite, Motorola announced new versions of its music phone, the RokrZ6; the Motorola Q and touch-screen Ming smart phones, which until now had only been sold only in Asia; and a new multimedia phone called the Z8.
Motorola has been selling other versions of its Rokr phone in Asia, and the Z6 was actually shown earlier this year at 3GSM in Barcelona and CTIA in Orlando. The Z6 has a built-in music player with "drag and drop" music syncing, a 2-megapixel camera, USB 2.0, a slider form factor, a Linux platform and stereo Bluetooth. Motorola also showed off the Motorola S9 stereo Bluetooth headset, which allows people to listen to music without using wires to connect to the device.
This phone, along with the new Z8 referred to as the "media monster," has a kick-slide form factor that cradles to the head. It was first shown at 3GSM in February. The phones feature a 2-megapixel camera, HSDPA support, a video player, videoconferencing, world phone support, a 16 million-color display and 90MB of internal memory. What's more, the phone will be able to play full-length movies from SD cards and show video at 30 frames per second (the same as on a standard TV). Motorola announced that it has already struck deals with Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures and Warner Brothers.
The RokrZ6's and Z8's music and multimedia features clearly pit these devices against competitors, such as Sony's Walkman phones and the upcoming iPhone by Apple. But while the iPhone will initially be available in the U.S., Motorola's music phones won't be available in North America anytime soon. The Rokr Z6 will launch this summer in Europe and Latin America. And the Z8 will be available this summer in Europe and Asia. The company did not mention U.S. launch dates.
"With our music devices, we are poised to make much more of a worldwide impact," Zander said in a short interview after Tuesday's event.
Meanwhile, Motorola hopes to compete against the iPhone with its lineup of smart phones. The company showed off the Motorola Q 9, the latest version of the QWERTY keyboard phone that competes head-to-head with BlackBerry devices and Samsung's Blackjack.
The Q 9 will run Windows 6 and support 3G HSDPA networks for data speeds up to 3.6Mbps. Executives even went so far as to call the phone the fastest smart phone device on the market. Motorola also added seven new buttons to allow for easier access to functions like camera and music player.
But competition is heating up, especially as Apple gears up to launch the iPhone in June. Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, which already have a significant lead over Motorola in terms of 3G and multimedia phones, are also expected to introduce new products.
Nokia is feeling so confident about its prospects that it said Monday it expects to gain market share in the second quarter. The company had reported in April that its share of the worldwide market would likely remain unchanged at 36 percent. But now the company says it believes that excess inventory, which had flooded the market most likely from Motorola, will be sold off during the quarter. As a result, Nokia expects its worldwide market share to get a boost.
"We continue to believe it will take several quarters for Motorola's handset division to get back on track," Choi said. "Moreover, we believe the company will face increased competitive pressure throughout the year as Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG each seek to gain share while Motorola revamps its portfolio."
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Motorola Razr, Ed Zander, Motorola Inc., critic, handset maker
- five clicks to get to the alarm clock, horrible key feedback, etc.
If it's not usable, it's no use.
I enjoy using my Sony-Ericsson T616 far more than I ever did
the RAZR that I bought as an upgrade - and I went back to the
T616 after six months with the RAZR because I couldn't stand to
use the thing anymore, especially with the persistent backlight
buzz the RAZR has. Most people I know with RAZRs feel the
same way.
If the RAZR2 and other 'new' phones are simply repackaged
versions of the same bad software, I know I won't even give
them a second glance.
the interface to a Linux based one. I agree that their old interface
was terrible. This one looks promising.
Nokia 100
Nokia 6000 series
Motorola Startac
Kyocera 3100 series
LG VX300 series
Motorola RAZR
(wow... that's kinda sad when you look at it.)
The interfaces have routinely improved, but the RAZR felt nostalgia, some bad holdovers carried forward from the Startac.
One can only hope that everyone in the interface department had all their Moto products confiscated and each Monday were handed a different competitor's handset.
Otherwise, any improvements will probably be mostly a fresh coat of watered-down whitewash applied to rickety boards nailed (with half the nails missing) to brand new posts in fresh concrete.
I bet Motorola hardware engineers cry every time they release a product to the software/interface team.
software shows lack of effort; frankly, it stinks. Motorola and the
rest should be taking lessons from Apple's iPhone. Motorola makes
elegance, but Apple makes elegance and ease of use. The cell
phone bar was raised to new heights at the end of June. Now let's
see if Motorola, and the rest, can clear it.
Talk to many cell phone power-users, and they will say they regret the day they were forced to retire their old Startac. (I had mine until I left Verizon 2 years ago)
Comparing it to any phone I have seen prior or since, no phone came close in reception, interface, or durability.
could actually read both the LCD screen and keypad in bright
daylight. Doing either is impossible with the Razr. I checked with
Verizon. I can replace my Razr on 12/22/07 without penalty. If
Verizon doesn't offer a StarTac-type phone, I'll change service to a
provider that does. I suspect a lot of users want a simple cellphone.
I'd even sacrifice Bluetooth.
____________________________________
http://www.vdownload.org/
It is typical American corporate arrogance, to think that the world IS the USA. It is - until they want to sell their products in other markets.
On the other hand, "iPod" is an excellent example of a brand that works in every market, regardless of the language spoken.
It's not like "Pod" is a universal term or the use of "i" to denote hi-teck-interwebby-connectivity. It became international by being a compelling, innovative must-have product.
There are plenty of examples even within this country where different names are used in different parts of the country for the same thing... Safeway/QFC/Vons/Pavillons, Kroger/Ralphs, Sears/KMart(ha), Dryer's/Edy's Ice Cream, etc.
We should all stick to arabic numerals for all products. Then they're universal, except in much of the arab world where hindi numerals are preferred.
They've got different marketing teams for different parts of the world.
Besides, the RAZR and most phones sold in the U.S. aren't sold elsewhere because they're technologically and featurally(if that's a word) inferior to what you can get elsewhere.
- agreed
- by dcardozo May 16, 2007 7:28 AM PDT
- that's an impossible brand to market in non english speaking countries (that's where most of the world phones are sold)
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