News today from the Boy Genius Report might well be an indicator of even more bad tidings heading Motorola’s way. Up until now, no matter how badly they did with their international mobile phones, Motorola could at least rely on the American market for sustenance, since they were the number 1 manufacturer in the land of the free.
Not any more, though. Samsung have kicked them off the top spot.
The shock news came as Samsung’s market share for mobile phones rose to 22.4% in the US, at the same time as Motorola’s dropped to 21.1%. Ok, it’s not a big difference in market shares, but when you consider that traditionally Motorola have been the big maker of mobile phones in America, it’s a bit of a huge, massive shock. The question is, though: does this mean the end is nigh for Motorola?
It’s very clear that despite the RAZR still being America’s favourite mobile phone, Motorola have taken an undeniable kicking everywhere else round the world. The problem with that is that they were relying very heavily on the American market, and their love for the RAZR, to keep them going. So, them falling from the top spot in the US is not a good sign at all.
Motorola themselves know this, I reckon. Consider that they’ve now said they’re going to focus on just 3 operating systems (their bespoke one, Windows Mobile, and Android), to make a whole, new raft of funky mobile phones, designed to reclaim their place as a top manufacturer. The question is, though, whether they can get their mindset away from the RAZRlust that most of their mobile phones have. It was good for its time, but by god is it holding them back now! I mean come on, its spec is massively outdated, it can’t even hold its own against the low-end Samsung J700, and as for something like their Android inspiration, the T-Mobile G1, not a chance…
So, it’s a case of this: Motorola are going to have pull something incredible out of their hats, and very quickly, too. It’s all very well saying they’re going to make loads of Android-powered mobile phones, to change the world’s perception of them, and build towards a bright tomorrow, but if they don’t get their backsides in gear and actually do it, there might not be a future to build towards.
And if they just take Android and put it in a RAZR clone (and I honestly wouldn’t put it past them), I reckon they’re pretty much doomed…
Don’t have faith in Motorola’s Android offerings? Grab the awesome T-Mobile G1, today!
