Motorola’s story throughout the years has been riveting. The firm practically invented the mobile phone, had several iconic products including the StarTAC and RAZR, but then all of a sudden thing just stopped working. They got too big, too confident, found a forumla that worked for them in the past, and just kept on executing it despite getting less and less money each quarter. That all changed when Motorola announced it would split up, that the mobile division would become their own unit, and that the new CEO, Sanjay Jha, who used to work at Qualcomm, would bet the future of the company on Android. Things have indeed paid off, and while Motorola isn’t the size that it once used to be, they are making money, and they’re making products that people love. The various DROID devices on Verizon have been a smashing success, so much so that during 2010 about $28 for every $100 Motorola made in sales came from that sole operator. That figure used to be 17% in 2009 and 13% in 2008. During those 2 years revenue from Sprint measured 13% and 7% respectively.
The company needs to ask themselves though, is this healthy? Their smartphone strategy isn’t in their hands. It’s all Google. They dictate release dates, features, everything. MotoBLUR, created in an attempt to differentiate Motorola’s products versus the slew of other Android devices on the market, is just a terrible and shows how difficult it is for them to grasp good software. Verizon, what if one day they wake up and say to themselves that they need more Samsung products in their portfolio, or what if LG catches up to the competition in 2011 and 2012 with their awesome new devices, where does that leave Motorola?
Over in Europe and Asia Motorola devices don’t have the same levels of respect that Nokia and Samsung have, and it may pay off to try and change that image, because as it stands it looks like Motorola has all their eggs in one basket.