Comments on: With Android, Motorola Rides a RAZR Sharp Line of Success

By: Motorola Worries of Overreliance on Verizon/Android : Tech News and Analysis «

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:53:32 +0000

[...] a little slow down in sales on Verizon for Motorola ahead of its launch. This is a concern we’ve raised in the past for Motorola. The company has put its chips on Android and, to a lesser extent, Verizon, which is the leading [...]

By: GigaOM’s Top 15 Mobilize Influencers 2010: Tech News «

GigaOM’s Top 15 Mobilize Influencers 2010: Tech News « — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:16:30 +0000

[...] On the handset side, Sanjay Jha, co-CEO, Motorola, has seen his bet on Android pay off, but the question still remains: How long will that lift the business? Meanwhile, Frank Meehan, CEO, INQ, has seen his vision of [...]

By: Android Saves Motorola Mobile Devices, Helps Boost Sales, Profits

Android Saves Motorola Mobile Devices, Helps Boost Sales, Profits — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:15:38 +0000

[...] to Motorola’s continued turnaround. Motorola can’t rest on its laurels, however, else it risks repeating its RAZR complacency. For now, though, Droid is a winning play. The initial Droid sold an estimated million units in [...]

By: parik

parik — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:31:00 +0000

I can say that with Android , any company can survive.but can not sustain profits in long run. At least, Nokia is no where near there. I think Android(Google)needs Nokia desperately than Nokia needs android.
Derek, I think low cost production is possible with Symbian ^3.Symbian is made for low cost HW requirements.
With android on mobile phones, Google have limited advertising profit than android on tablets,laptop or desktops.
Derek, when you are saying old-school Symbian Nokia, that Symbian is from 2001 to 2005. After that lot of changes happened and happening. even i would say with that kind of old school Symbian, Nokia can manage to sell phone lower than android phone. And most important is, when you go to shop, no body goes and ask give me android phone, give me Symbian phone.
Again if Huawei or ZTE start competing with HTC, Motorola. I wonder at what margins all these companies can sell phones for survival.
Yes, Ecosystem is important, but then there are limitations on mobile comparing desktop/laptop like experience. Full use of mobile will only possible when you are travelling. Other than that for day to day life. Moderate ecosystem is enough. ( may be i am wrong in this , but this is just what i think from average user perspective)

By: Rdx

Rdx — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:36:26 +0000

IMHO, Nokia has 2 choices:

Go with Android, sell decent number of phones with decent margin, cannot be super successful, just benifit and contribute to the ecosystem, survival gaurenteed, super profits, not so much.
Build Meego, or whatever they call it. Almost certain doom and gloom. If they choose this, they will have only themselves to blame. Symbian OS is now officially obsolete with Froyo on Huawei, how can they ever compete with Symbian at any price?

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:17:41 +0000

I love love love Apple but the just got a Droidx and its better much much better than the I-phone4

Like the I-phone4 is a toy compared to the Droidx

By: Derek Kerton

Derek Kerton — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:56:06 +0000

Slim.

You should consult someone in the telecom industry. You're wrong. Carriers had always exerted tremendous control over the software AND hardware.

Apple was a turning point for that control, and Google only gained their control because carriers and handset vendors were desperate for an decent competitive response to the iPhone.

But you're right that they were out-of-touch with the end user's needs.

By: Derek Kerton

Derek Kerton — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:51:58 +0000

I've tweeted it once, and I'll say it again: "No mobile OS that existed in the field in 2006 is a competitive OS in the modern smartphone race post-2007."

I'll stand by that absolutely at the high-end of the market, and I think it carries downmarket to mid-tier phones, too.

Parik, you counter your own argument about Symbian doing well in the mid-ranges. "HTC can sell their hardware at whatever price they want." Although I'm sure HTC has real costs to recopy, low-cost production is the problem for Symbian/Nokia in the mid-tier market.

If HTC can start producing cheap Android phones...wait, forget HTC, let's talk about cheaper Huawei or ZTE handsets...then, these mid-tier cheap Android handsets would bear all the advantages of the leading mobile ecosystem - apps, support, development, etc. And they would simply have cheaper hardware - processors, memory, cameras, no flash, screens, etc.

Would a mid-tier user choose an old-school Symbian Nokia or a touch-based, modern Android when priced similarly?

By: parik

parik — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:16:07 +0000

Nokia already announced partnership with Microsoft on MS office front on Qt phone. I think i will rather like to use term Qt phone than Symbian. They have this advantage.
So Motorola’s only option is WP7 os in premium space.
So called social phones (moto blur,kin) are failed in the market.
With Qt, it is relatively easy port Linux apps to Symbian. Plus Symbian already have advanced JAVA support for so many years, so i think it will be easy to port future android apps to Qt phone. I also heard that Qt is going to support official android app development suite.
I think when you say apps, i will say to be specific, games on all OS will make difference. I think game apps are most variable apps. Otherwise most of favorite the apps are available on all os.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:19:14 +0000

Substitute "Dell" or "HP" for "Motorola", and "Windows" for "Android," and you have the beginnings of a framework for deciding how things will work out for Motorola. An incomplete one, of course, since carriers will have huge influences in the US, and since there is far less opportunity now for peripheral sales.

It seems like apps will drive a significant portion of hardware value, and apps markets will see the same network effect advantages that helped Windows consolidate market share. There's probably not much room left for non-Android, non-IOS operating systems, especially when you consider the advantages of purchasing once and having an app available on your tablet, phone, etc. HTML-based apps may change this, and it seems like HTML apps should eventually be able to manage the sophisticated permissions (personal data, location, HW services) now managed by native apps.

In the short term at least, hardware features will provide room for product differentiation. Look for HTC, Samsung and others to purchase technology companies (such as Refocus Imaging?) to add unique features.

Will manufacturers focus on overseas markets where carrier influence is less? I don't know enough about the opportunities there.