Motorola tries 'aggressive' mode for smartphones

Motorola is on a drive to boost sales of its Moto X and Moto G phones. Image: GSM Arena

Woodside, in an interview with AFP on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, said the Google-owned unit is seeking to gain ground against rivals including Apple and Google.

"Consumer tastes change, and we think that there's a huge undercurrent of consumers who are saying, 'I don't want to pay as much for my phone. That's a great opportunity," he said.

Motorola is far behind the market leaders now but is "tapping into the next five billion consumers who can't afford a US$600 dollar phone," he added.

Since being bought by Google, Motorola has introduced the Moto X, the flagship device aimed at the US market, and the Moto G, a less expensive phone geared to cost-conscious consumers worldwide.

"There will be different phones at different prices but we're going to be very aggressive there," Woodside said. "When we priced Moto X at US$399 in the US as a promotion, we sold tens of thousands of units in a matter of eight minutes."

Cheaper phones

The Moto X was originally introduced at US$599 unlocked, without a contract, while the Moto G was priced at US$179 in the US.

Motorola, once among the leaders in the mobile phone market, has been struggling in recent years as manufacturers like Apple and Samsung grabbed most of the market share and profits. Surveys indicate has only about seven percent of the US market.

While some analyst see Motorola cutting prices to stimulate sales, Woodside says the company remains profitable.

"Costs are really important in the business and we'll always be focused on costs. Right now the priority is to stimulate turnover," he says.

"This is a business where scale matters and what's really important for us is to start putting products out there that we're excited about and get consumers excited about. That's what we've done with Moto X and Moto G," he says.

"We've got more on the way and we're focusing on growing that base, the bottom line will take care of itself, once we get to the scale that we need to be."

He says that younger consumers appear to like to use Moto Maker, which allows for a custom design and color of the smartphone adding that about 80% of those customers are under 35.

Woodside declined to provide specific sales figures but maintained that since launching the Moto X and Moto G the company is seeing a strong improvement in smartphone sales.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge