Andrew Morley, Motorola Mobility’s VP and UK general manager of mobile devices, is on the phone to Mobile, talking about the launch of the Motorola RAZR while queuing for his flight back to the UK from Spain.
Despite a cacophony of noisy tourists, screaming children and airport announcements, Morley’s excitement and confidence in this latest addition to the manufacturer’s portfolio comes over loud and clear.
He says: ‘It has been fantastic. We are really encouraged. The coverage is very positive from across Europe and the UK, with lots of people saying it is even better than they thought it would be. It has been really well received.’
Morley has reason to be pleased with this positive feedback. The Motorola RAZR, launched this week, is a vital part of the manufacturer’s battle to resurrect its fortunes in the mobile phone market.
Motorola has a lot of market share to claw back, having fallen from the heady heights of being the second largest mobile phone manufacturer in 2004 – largely due to meteoric sales of the original RAZR - to fourth place by 2007.
The fightback began on several levels, starting with the launch of Motorola Mobility in 2008, which saw the mobile division separated out from the parent group. Then came the launch of the Motorola Defy, the Atrix, the Defy Plus and Motorola’s first tablet, the XOOM, which won a welter of awards at the CES 2011 Show in February this year.
Now it is the turn of the reborn RAZR. But can this latest addition stand out in an increasingly crowded and competitive market? Witness the almost simultaneous launch of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus next month which, unlike the Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread-powered RAZR, runs on the latest OS update, Ice Cream Sandwich. At the same time industry experts are warning that this quarter, in the face of continuing economic gloom, will be the toughest ever. Morley insists the Motorola RAZR has what it takes.
‘We are very confident. It is not just about the hardware, which, with the Super AMOLED Advanced screen, the camera and the Kevlar back and so on, is exceptional. However, we also have very strong software and services message. The whole proposition makes us very confident we can stand out in the marketplace.’
He argues that Motorola has a winning formula that combines focusing on the consumer while ‘flawlessly delivering the right product, at the right time, in the right place at the right price.’
He points to the response of consumer groups to the RAZR, which he says have been very positive. ’We always start with the consumer, and the first response from our consumer research groups – from the very first one in January until now – has always been “Wow!”.
‘It is the same with our partners. When they see our device against competitors’ devices, they pick ours up and they won’t put it down. We have something very special here.’
He adds: ‘When we talk to our partners and consumers they say we have the right products that people want. And this year you will see a steady stream of products from us – we will really get into the market now.’
Motorola’s tablet strategy is also deepening its penetration of the UK market by broadening the company’s distribution routes to market, Morley says.
‘We have had really encouraging results from the XOOM. It was the first Honeycomb tablet to launch and it has really expanded our distribution to the likes of John Lewis and Dixons,
so for us it is very much an area we want to continue to focus on.’
However, Morley remains tight-lipped on the manufacturer’s plans to launch a second XOOM tablet, only saying, ‘It is one area that is very interesting for us and we are seen in the UK as one of the leading tablet device manufacturers.’
Motorola is also putting great effort into raising its profile with the launch of the RAZR, which will be backed by a major 360-degree marketing campaign in time for the holiday season, said to be worth £12m – its biggest spend yet.
Morley declines to discuss the cost of the campaign, but concedes it is a major outlay. He says: ‘We are very keen to get a strong message out in Q4 so it is a very significant campaign for us and when it hits the streets you won’t be able to miss it.’
Return of the RAZR
The new, improved Motorola RAZR is the manufacturer’s flagship handset for Q4. The device is just 7.1mm thick and weighs 127g, making it the thinnest and one of the lightest smartphones on the market.
The Android 2.3.5-powered device has a dual-core 1.2GHz Texas Instruments processor, 16GB of internal storage, 32GB microSD support and 1GB of RAM. It also features a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Advanced screen and packs an eight-megapixel camera with 1080p video capability.
The smartphone is built to last, with a back-panel made from laser cut Kevlar fibre and an interior made of stainless steel.
Motorola claims the phone’s battery can last for up to 10 hours – two hours longer than the iPhone 4.
The smartphone comes with a variety of accessories, including the HD Hub, which lets you mirror the handset to a TV, and the new wireless Bluetooth controller, known as Smart Controller, which features a touch-sensitive keypad that acts as a mouse.
The RAZR will also run alongside Motorola’s new range of Lapdocks, allowing it to be transformed into a desktop or laptop computer running Mozilla Firefox.
Motorola has also launched its own Cloud service, known as MotoCast, which allows users to stream content between their PC and RAZR handset, enabling users to access their PCs remotely from the phone and stream and save content to the device either over Wi-Fi or 3G.
‘Our products are challenging the market and we are defining the industry’
The launch of Motorola Mobility in 2008 has brought a new culture to the business, says Morley.
He explains: ‘The biggest change is a much more committed focus on the consumer, which stems from 12 to 18 months ago. We now start with the consumer when we develop any product. We are primarily now business-to-consumer and so the consumer becomes much more important in the process.’
Morley says the company’s mobile business has also been re-energised.
‘People say it feels like a start-up. There is that level of energy and buzz. Our products are challenging the market and we are defining the industry with products such as the first Honeycomb tablet, the Motorola Atrix with its unique eco-system and now the RAZR.’
He said Motorola’s focus on converged products is also drawing consumers.
‘When we took over Orange stores in Q2 and showed consumers how our mobiles could become laptops and laptops could become mobiles we created a real stir. We are starting to create waves and the retailers are very encouraging and positive. We have big ambitions and they are coming to fruition now.’
Editor: Carol Millett