How can Motorola make the next hit phone?
Some people pick a mobile phone like a spouse. It has to be attractive with brains.
But then some groups have special needs or demands: teens want text-messaging and music; adults want multi-tasking with great call reception; seniors want bigger keypads and screens; lower-income folks seek the basics; wealthier folks wanting everything with a designer label.
So who do you please first? And how would Motorola Inc. do it?
Considering Motorola intends to spin off its Mobile Devices business by next year, it needs to make some major decisions. What will the new business be named? What types of products will it make? What consumer group should it target first? Should it remain global? Should it be edgy or basic or mix-it-up?
Most important, will it sell? And will shareholders stay happy for a change?
Many technology and industry experts have as varied opinions as the number of Razr phone models flooding the market since 2004.
The new Motorola phone company will face more than stiffer competition from the Nokias of tomorrow. It will face other technology companies entering the mobile phone business, including Hewlett Packard, which intends to introduce a mobile phone with word processing.
"Unless Motorola can find a new partner in the cell phone operations with innovative ideas that consumers will accept -- maybe only concentrate in smart phones for example -- I predict a short life for the new spin-off," said Ray Wright, associate professor of Computer Science and Telecommunications at Roosevelt University.
Smart phones were on the top of the list for many industry experts, including Greg Brewster, associate dean of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems at DePaul University in Chicago.
"Motorola already has its MotoQ and it's OK, but it's not as exciting or intriguing as the iPhone," said Brewster. "They need to get something more edgy, or even phones that let you talk over WiFi."
Brewster said emerging technology in Japan allows WiFi and Voiceover Internet Protocol phone service to work together, providing low-cost phone calls that don't cost minutes.
Another type of technology Motorola should consider involves flexible screens or projection, said Francis Sideco, senior wireless analyst in El Segundo, Calif., with iSupply Corp., an industry research firm.
"Multi-touch and reflective displays that are on the iPhone are great, but Motorola should avoid catching up," Sideco said. Instead, he suggested new flexible displays that offer a kind of roll-down screen for easy viewing of videos.
Motorola also should consider new projection technology that allows the handset to project the video onto a wall so others could watch as well, Sideco said. "Motorola should definitely return to the high-end area," Sideco said.
A few years ago, Wall Street analysts criticized Motorola for being too high-end, so it began producing mass-market, low-tier phones that offered just the basics to emerging countries. The plan worked by getting more phones into the hands of more people, especially those who wouldn't otherwise afford one. But it also brought in less profit for a company hungry to please everyone.
In addition to features, Motorola also should focus on the shape and bypass the standard clamshell or candy-bar styles, some say.
"They've got to be able to come up with a unique form factor and high function phone," said Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director of Jupiter Research in New York.
Gartenberg said the iPhone has lifted the bar for both attractive form and function. Motorola needs to respond to that innovation, not by copying it, but by taking it to the next level.
"That's easy to say and very hard to do," said Gartenberg."