Motorola's search for the next big thing |
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Hisham Badawi sweated for nearly two hours looking for a MotorolaMotorola
handset at one of Abu Dhabi's largest mobile phone centres. In the end, he stumbled across a small phone shop displaying an elegant second hand handset dubbed the Aura."All shops I visited said they no longer sell MotorolaMotorola
handsets," he says. "When I wanted to buy that Aura, I was shocked to learn that its price is Dh5,000 although it is a used phone."Three months after the US communications giant's unique, but expensive, Aura found its way into the UAE market, it has failed to save the company's mobile phone business from further market share erosion.
Released just before the end of 2008, the phone is still one of the most attractive handsets in the market but also one of the most repulsive in terms of price, which exceeded Dh8,000 in March. The device, say those in the industry, has focused on looks and design at the expense of technical capability.
They've also censured MotorolaMotorola
, which introduced the RAZR V3 - once voted one of the 50 greatest gadgets of all time - in 2004, for not doing enough to appease the regional market, now being considered a valuable smartphone market. "MotorolaMotorola
is plunging deeper and deeper into oblivion in the UAE market. Its dealers are weak, its handsets are not as impressive as others, and the company is not giving enough attention to the Middle East markets," says Abdul Monem Hariri, manager of Asala Mobile phone shop."There have been some good MotorolaMotorola
handsets like the Aura but they are very expensive... another one, the ZN5 with a 5MP camera is a good phone but a bit bulky and has not been marketed properly. MotorolaMotorola needs a good agent here and another miracle similar to the Razr V3."The Razr V3 range was instrumental for temporarily halting a steady decline in the company's global market share. In the UAE for instance, the V3 is believed to be the main factor that allowed MotorolaMotorola
to more than double its market share to 10.9 per cent in 2006 from 5.3 per cent in the previous year, according to its ex-dealers, Globalnet.Despite its exorbitant price, the Aura is not a particularly sophisticated phone. It is a simple quad-band GSM device, with a basic two megapixel digital camera.
The phone lacks 3G support, WiFi or GPS. But there are plenty of things that make the Motorola Aura unique - its rare rotator handset, circular display and chemically etched stainless steel case, among others.
"The Aura is aimed at a very small group of people and that is why it has not made any impact on the company's sales in the UAE," says Zakaria Al Masri, sales manager at Golden Crown mobile phone shop in Abu Dhabi.
"Even other technically better and cheaper MotorolaMotorola
handsets are not attracting any customers. Most shops here no longer buy or sell MotorolaMotorola phones and its dealer in Abu Dhabi, Technocare, has just shut down. You can't expect us to stack our shelves with MotorolaMotorola phones and accessories when there is no authorised dealer, let alone real demand for such handsets. The days when MotorolaMotorola stole the minds of customer with its V3 are gone."Having once commanded more than one-fifth of the global mobile handset market, MotorolaMotorola
ended the second quarter of 2008 with an 8.5 per cent share compared with around 9.3 per cent in the first quarter. Its global share continued to slide, reaching 6.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2009. In the UAE, dealers believe the company's market share has slumped to below five per cent and could fall further this year.Faced by hectic competition from other key mobile phone makers, MotorolaMotorola
continued to experience a major crisis with its handset division, which recorded a $1.2 billion (Dh4.4bn) loss in the last quarter of 2007. In contrast, MotorolaMotorola
's rivals flourished and by July 2007, its long-chasing South Korean rival, Samsung Electronics, surpassed it as the new second largest handset maker in the world. In the second half of 2008, MotorolaMotorola lost its weak third place position to the fast rising South Korean LG Electronics.In recent statements, MotorolaMotorola
CEO Greg Brown has aknowledged that the company needs a fresh lineup of phones - and that it was working diligently on getting new products to market. MotorolaMotorola
's few releases - such as the Z9 slider - have fallen relatively flat."MotorolaMotorola
is taking aggressive steps to improve the performance of the mobile devices business," said company spokeswoman Jennifer Weyrauch. "We are working more closely with customers to tailor our innovative products to meet their needs. We're also sharpening our focus on product development to deliver the mobile experiences consumers desire."Besides the Z9, MotorolaMotorola
's latest handsets to have found their way into the UAE market include the ZN5, the company's first 5MP camera device. The ZN5 is the first mobile phone with integrated special Kodak technology, which naturally facilitates shooting when it comes to both quality and speed. MotorolaMotorola
handsets are now sold at only a handful of shops in the Capital. Hypermarket giant CarrefourCarrefour recently reduced retail prices for MotorolaMotorola devices. "There is a very weak demand and some of the handsets are still being sold at below cost price. Yet demand continues to remain very low," said an employee.
By Nadim Kawach
© Emirates Business 24/7 2009
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