Motorola’s new co-CEO Sanjay Jha has a plan to save the beleaguered mobile handset maker: go all-in on Google’s Android mobile operating system. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal (behind the pay wall):
Sanjay Jha, who also became Motorola’s co-chief executive in August, has decided to focus on Google Inc.’s Android operating system as the software platform for Motorola’s showcase phones, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Jha is expected to detail his plans — which will likely include thousands of layoffs — as early as Thursday when the company reports earnings, these people said.
The rumor is that Motorola will focus all of its efforts around three core operating systems for its phones, with Android becoming the central platform for “mid-tier” phones with Internet capability. The other two operating systems it will support will be Windows Mobile on the high end and its own P2K on the low end. In other words, Android phones will become its bread and butter.
Given this potential strategy, the 350-person Android team that Motorola is recruiting while it considers another massive round of layoffs elsewhere makes more sense. It’s Android-powered social networking phone looks like it will be the first of a long line of Internet-capable phones.
Betting the farm on Android would be a gutsy move, as it is still an unproven operating system. And, as Om points out, it could be too little, too late for Motorola’s cell phone business, which has not turned a profit since late 2006.
But really, what other choice does Motorola have? It is much better off piggybacking on an open-source operating system that rivals the iPhone’s than to try to create its own modern mobile OS that nobody else will care about. And for Android, this would be a major vote of confidence. It could become the equivalent of IBM’s embrace of Linux for enterprise servers during the past decade. Not only does it signal to the rest of teh mobile industry that Android is the OS to beat, but Motorola will no doubt put some major resources behind Android to bring it up to snuff, just as IBM has been a major contributor to Linux and other open-source projects.
This is the smartest thing Motorola has done in a long time.
Update 10/30/2008: Going with Android is indeed Motorola’s plan. But its first Android phones won’t be out until next Christmas. That is way too long to wait. I guess investors can just expect mounting losses until then.
They’re also a founding member of the Symbian Foundation and were quite vocal in support in some meetings at the last CTIA …
Symbian is crap, and nobody cares about it in the US.
But the U.S. isn’t the entire world. I know Arrington called it irrelevant, but having more than 50% of the entire global marketshare is nowhere near irrelevant.
There’s interesting developers outside the Valley and New York guys.
That’s an all in push. It seems very brave to bet a company that large on a product as nascent as Android.
Um, have you seen Motorola lately? Emaciated. Motorola needs some nourishment FAST or it will croak. The risk here you worry about is moot.
Besides… for GOD sakes… ****anything**** would be better than Motorola’s tired old existing interface. As a matter of fact, most of the revolutionary cell phone GUIs of today are ostensibly a reaction to Motorola’s infamous menu-driven, UP-DOWN-LEFT-RIGHT interface.
LOL. So, in a way, Motorola is responsible for the great cell phone software war going on now.
Does anyone know if Motorola has plans on implementing Android on Symbol handhelds?
Nobody reading this knows what a symbol hand-held is or even what functionality they provide. Moving from Windows for business applications will take much longer. SAP and Oracle, alongside Tesco and Wal-mart (and other large retailers) should push android into the enterprise mobile space.
Good call.
Android = “bag of hurt” for expensive, proprietary mobile operating systems makers.
>>>>>> OBAMA IS LOSING!!!!!!!
Motorola was traditionally a mess in this space and unfortunately got its act together, and behind UIQ, just as Symbian went open source and effectively sunk UIQ as a meaningful play. I think this time Motorola wants to make damn sure it picks a winner – or at least a play with sticking power. Given the US stronghold – and waning share elsewhere – you can understand them not going with Symbian despite the superior share and current capability.
I didn’t know Motorola was founded way back when…
Alex:
1. Google it douchebag.
2. Remove rodent from ass.
Alex:
1. I am a douchebag=plus. Google it.
2. Please insert a big rodent in my ass. I love the furry feeling.
3. I am on Prozac. Take it Five times a day.
Drink the Kool-Aid, wannabe.
He loathes you more than me.
May be or may not.
But Motorola can hit this War of Smart phone market.
http://www.iboozi.com
do they really have a choice here?
“Motorola will focus all of its efforts around three core operating systems for its phones”? WTF? How many operating systems do they need?
The best thing so far is… That is going to enable developers to make powerful applications that would work on Powerful Motorola handset.
Motorola is so disoriented now and they are adding 350 more to create more confusion. Have anyone of you spoken to their rep and biz-dev during a forum. They are so rude to developers. Sanjay needs to clean house. Add 350 more people to the pot of fat will only create more saturated fat. The people at Motorola is so out of touch.
OK, Android seems to be the smartest (only choice) i just don’t see any point on having three different operations systems. Hey come on, does anybody believe that windows mobile will be a considerable player on the mobile OS market a few years from now ?
My bet is on windows mobile.. They will slash price of the OS soon. With proper touch interface it should rock, loosely tied android will crumble soon.
You gotta be kidding … joker
Motorola instead of going 350 developers route should have went to blackberry route and instead set up a big fund to give to best app developers.
Motorola will take the Android approach. For all about Android checkout
http://www.gplp...p?id=88&did
Motorola is so screwed….relying on an unproven OS. They think a “social networking phone” is going save them? What Fortune 500 executive clamor for it? People in their 20’s all buy Apple…they dont want a Motorola.
The best part is that they agreed to pay CEO Sanjay Jha $30M even if he fails.
http://www.f-ckedcompany.com
Android is the right choice, an open source Linux based OS that can be extended with powerful Apps and a built in distribution system.
Windows Mobile is in great need of being replaced. So far all efforts have focused on layering a (visually appealing) shell over top of existing legacy code. MS did this with their desktop OS up until Vista and created a difficult hurdle to pass for themselves in the process. Hopefully they learned their lesson and will rebuild mobile from the ground up to be a mobile OS poised for future needs.
To be fair, Windows Mobile is a decent OS for yesterday and today, it just doesn’t have the power or underlying architecture to compete with OSX or Android in the long haul. The leading and future mobile devices will be computers in their own right and will need desktop OS class architectures and 3rd party developer App development to remain competitive. Im confident MS can deliver, its just that WinMobile doesn’t have this, right now.
They dont have a choice anyways. Also, given the flop models they have released in the recent years, it will be a hard time for Motorola to catch up with the rest
I found your article here: http://www.andr...hp?t=35&f=2
I’m glad Motorola will be going with the Android platform, maybe I will actually start buying their phones again. My Motorola phones used to crash all the time.
“…than to try to create its own modern mobile OS that nobody else will care about.”
News flash: No one outside of Silicon Valley cares about any OS on their mobile phone. You all keep confusing the mobile industry with the PC industry and they’re just not the same, as much you as you will wish it was.
This will not turn around Motorola. Executives are not prescient, and companies need market input to migrate successfully. Cutting new products and technologies is not going to provide the elements needed to success – good scenario planning, obsessive competitor understanding, willingness to be disruptive and using White Space to understand market needs. Motorola’s new plan misses most of the requirements. Read more at http://www.TheP...ixPrinciple.com
You are a broken record. Nobody cares, would be surprised, or trusts your anonymous comments. Please STFU.