Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha spoke yesterday at the Credit Suisse 2010 Technology Conference. As part of his presentation, the CEO said Motorola’s Q1 2011 guidance will be negatively impacted by a new “competitive dynamic” developing at Verizon Wireless. This new competitor must be the iPhone as only the iPhone could garner enough demand to hurt the sales of Motorola’s popular DROID lineup. Yes, Palm is slated to launch a new smartphone in the upcoming month, but the debut of the Pre 2 would not cause Motorola to break a sweat and lower its guidance.
In addition to this iPhone hint, Jha also promised that the American manufacturer would have 4G devices ready for early next year. These devices may include high-end smartphones and tablets in the 7 and 10-inch varieties. The rollout of these devices fits nicely with Verizon’s 4G timeframe. Verizon is rolling out its LTE network on December 5th and stated that LTE smartphones and tablets would be available before the middle of next year.
These Motorola-branded LTE devices may include the Tegra 2-powered Olympus/Etna smartphone and the Everest tablet. Details are sparse on the Everest tablet but the Olympus has been spotted on more than one occasion. Originally thought to be a Verizon exclusive, the Olympus is now thought to be landing at Verizon as the Etna and on AT&T as the Olympus.
The AT&T Olympus is expected to debut first in January, while the Verizon Etna is expected to debut in February to March. The high-end smartphone has been spotted with Android 2.2 and MOTOBLUR but an update to Android 2.3 is possible. The Everest tablet is expected to arrive in February to March with Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Both the Etna and the Everest are expected to be 100% compatible with LTE.
If all these hints and rumors pan out, then Verizon will have a big year in 2011. The iPhone, LTE, and Tegra 2 Android devices -what more could you want?
[Via BGR and Credit Suisse]
