Skip to main content

Motorola Q Phone Receives Mixed Reaction

MarketWatch reports that since coming on the market in June, Motorola Inc.'s much-hyped Q smartphone has sold at a steady pace. Now the question is whether the company can meet their aggressive sales target.

Investors will get a clearer idea of how well the Q is selling when Motorola reports second-quarter results. The company expects to ship 1.5 million units in the first 180 days, though Motorola has shown signs it could deliver 2 million units, according to some analysts.

Like other smartphones, the Q is visually appealing, with its sleek keyboard, color screen and Internet capabilities. It also plays video and music. Critics, however, it's not as 'easy to use' as competing devices offered by Research In Motion Ltd. and Palm Inc., and is less suitable for serious business users.

So, what exactly is the target market for this new device? According to James Faucette, an analyst with PacificCrest, the retailers he has polled say "wide appeal has been limited" for the Q, though the device has sold "reasonably well" for a new smartphone on the market.

Yet, wide appeal is exactly what Motorola seeks. The company wants to push the device particularly to consumers, few of whom currently own smartphones. Most users for now are executives, businesspeople and professional workers. Analyst Albert Lin of American Technology Research says Motorola can meet its initial six-month goal, but he expects sales to taper off in the long run unless the company makes big improvements to the Q.

Popular posts from this blog

Why 2025 Will Redefine Mobile Connectivity

As international travel rebounds to pre-pandemic levels in 2025, the mobile communication roaming market is at an inflection point. Emerging technologies and changing customer preferences are challenging traditional wholesale roaming agreements between mobile network operators (MNOs). The global wholesale roaming market is projected to more than double, from $9 billion in 2024 to $20 billion by 2028. This surge will be fueled by the expanding deployment of 5G Standalone (SA) technology, which enables real-time roaming connections and activity monitoring. But beneath this headline figure lies a complex landscape of regional variations and technological mobile service disruptions. Global Mobile Roaming Market Development Western Europe dominates inbound roaming connections, largely thanks to its Roam Like at Home (RLAH) initiative, which eliminates roaming charges among member countries.  Meanwhile, the Indian Subcontinent is emerging as a growth hotspot. Between 2024 and 2029, inbou...