Motorola Mobile Devices

Infobox_Company
company_name = Motorola Inc
company_logo =| company_type = Public
company_slogan = Intelligence Everywhere
foundation = 1928
location = Libertyville, Illinois
key_people = Sanjay Jha, CEO
num_employees = 88,000
industry = Communications equipment
products = Embedded computer systems
Mobile phones
Two-way radios
revenue = (2004)
homepage = [http://www.motorola.com/ www.motorola.com] The Mobile Devices division is the largest division (based on revenue) of communications corporation Motorola. The division is headquartered in Libertyville, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. Motorola's networks division (called Personal Communication Section (PCS) prior to 2004) pioneered the flip phone with the StarTAC in the mid-1990s. Motorola had a commanding lead in the analog cellphone market, but failed to jump on the digital bandwagon, giving way for global rivals such as Nokia and Samsung Electronics to leap ahead.

Motorola continues to experience a major crisis with its handset division, which recorded a $1.2 billion loss in Q4 2007. [ [http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/motorolas-quarterly-profit-declines-84/story.aspx?guid=%7BCC01CF82%2DC434%2D4C1E%2D97B5%2DFBEF11D78E44%7D&siteid=yhoof Motorola profit slides on mobile woes; shares hit 5-year low - MarketWatch ] ] Its global market share has been continuously on the decline; from 18.4% of the market in 2007, it had a share of just 9.7% by 2008. In contrast, Motorola's rivals flourished and by July 2007, its long chasing South Korean rival, Samsung Electronics, surpassed it as the new world's 2nd largest handset maker - with a surge in market share in Q1 2008, Samsung now commands a large share of 16.4%. Motorola is currently on the verge of losing its weak 3rd place position to the fast rising South Korean multinational LG Electronics, which overtook Sony Ericsson in Q1 2008 with a strong increase in market share to 8.6%. [ [http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/25/q1_world_phone_sales/ Q1 post-Xmas lull reverses iPhone growth curve | Register Hardware ] ]

tarTAC

In 1996, Motorola introduced the StarTAC, which was then the smallest and lightest phone in the world, weighing 3.1 ounces.

Nokia takes the lead

In the late 1990s, lack of design and a friendly user interface left a gaping hole in Motorola's product offerings. Nokia saw this, and introduced stylish cellphones with a friendly human interface with features like a big screen and an easy to navigate menu. This was marketed as "human technology". Nokia's rise coincided with the cellphone revolution in several emerging markets such as India. Nokia quickly became the leader in market share worldwide.

HelloMoto, Motorola has a resurgence

In 2002-2003, Motorola's Mobile Devices department reinvented itself. Three areas of significant improvement were user friendliness, design and brand. Motorola started paying more attention to the user experience, and models such as the v300, v400 and v600 (called the triplets) were among the first to boast an easy user interface. Coupled with this improvement, Motorola stressed design and brand image. The result of constant effort in this direction led to the RAZR V3.

RAZR

In 2004, Motorola released the RAZR V3. This phone has been by far the largest selling phone in the United States and elsewhere since its introduction,Fact|date=August 2008 with 50 million handset shipments as of July 2006. Motorola released other phones based on the RAZR design. These include the PEBL U6, SLVR L6, SLVR L7 (more expensive variant of SLVR L6), RAZR V3c (CDMA), RAZR V3i (with upgraded camera and appearance), V3x (supports 3G technology and has a 2 MP camera), RAZR V3xx (supports 3.5G technology) and RAZR maxx V6 (supports 3.5G technology and has a 2 MP camera) announced on July 2006.

Competitors

* Nokia
* Samsung Electronics
* Sony Ericsson
* LG Electronics

References

External links

* [http://www.motorola.com/ Motorola]
** [http://www.motorola.com/content/0,,115-110,00.html A short history timeline]