Motorola Inc. Strategy and Structure - Essay Example

? APA Format Template (6th Edition) Number Due Faculty [Insert text here] Keywords: [Insert keywords here, all lowercase, separated by commas] Motorola Inc. Strategy and Structure Motorola has long been a leader of innovative products into the marketplace. For more than 80 years they have created means for people to interact and connect with each other in incredible new ways. They were responsible for brining entertainment into automobiles, they released the world’s first commercial portable cellular phone, and they even invented the Six Sigma strategy improvement process. We are now more than ever connected as a social society in new ways. The boundaries that once separated wireless mobility, the Internet, computing and media are now being merged together to create a more mobile, 2.0 connected social society. Many of the devices that consumers use on a daily basis are now connected to the web. These connections allow them to link to resources, people, information, and entertainment. These connections are now defining the expectations for communication devices as people are undergoing new social behaviors and consumer expectations. (www.motorola.com) As of now, “Motorola’s Mobile Device portfolio includes a broad array of converged devices including smartphones based on the Android operating system, led by the highly successful DROID family of products, as well as the tablets and Bluetooth accessories.” These devices service the needs of businesses and consumers by delivering Internet services, phone, email, social networking and entertainment all in one small device. (www.motorola.com) In the past Motorola was great at developing new products, yet they always seemed to ‘lack a viable product map and continued to lose market share to competing vendors that were consistently bringing better products to the market.’ (Martin, Richard) It seems as though Motorola’s new products such as the Android phones and the Xoom tablet held high expectations in making a dent in the portable communication device market share as well. However, after the release of the Xoom, Motorola continued to put more pressure on their sales efforts by releasing more Android based operating system tablets. It appears as though they may be falling back into old habits as these products are failing expectations even with the credible partnership of Google Inc., a company that a great track record when it comes to mobile operating systems. The Xoom has been labeled in the media as a “promising, but unpolished product.” The product was set at a premium price of $599, and has failed to compete with its main competition, the thinner and lighter Apple iPad 2. Overall, the sales picture isn’t inspiring. Motorola’s key strengths have always been at creating innovative products and forging relationships with service providers ahead of the curve. The Motorola Razr, was introduced in 2004, and was a huge hit. However, they saw an instant share price decline as competitors took their ideas and brought better products to the market. Motorola missed the boat when they split the company into two divisions, the struggling mobile phone business and its broadband and mobility solutions unit. They are now paying for that mistake as they have come to realize that the interconnected future of mobile communications devices was soon to come. Motorola made the right move in partnering with Google, and for forming a competitive OS system like Android to compete with Apple. However, they did not think about the application and infrastructure the same way as Apple. Motorola’s weakness continues to remain the same, as they develop great products ahead of the tech curve, yet they fail to implement a product map for effective product release and application support. The anticipation for the Xoom was not comparable to that of Apple’s iPad products. This is because they release products as soon as they come out without an overall brand strategy and interface direction. It is Apple’s overall brand strategy and user friendliness that allows so many of their products to be used in conjunction while complementing each other that separates them from Motorola. Other sources of problems are found in Motorola’s confusing pricing strategies. Motorola continues to price products such as the Xoom at a premium, not offering for a competitive price bargain against the more recognizable iPad. Complaints have also come from the ‘deceptive pricing’ strategy of the Motorola’s Artix 4G at AT&T stores. Apparently there is a $499.99 unsubsidized price and there is also a “full retail price” not clearly defined. (Nguyen, Chuong) This is something that Motorola must address with their retailer distributors such as AT&T and Verizon. This is where once again; Apple has an unfair advantage as they have greater control over their products with a large self-controlled distribution network. In terms of strategic options, Motorola has paused its efforts to sell its home-and-networks mobility unit. This unit makes cable boxes and other gear. One reason to sell as a strategic option is that Motorola was hoping for the popularity of the Droid devices to take off and allow for them to survive as one entity. Aside from that, Motorola felt the bids were lower than expected, and will wait for more offers. (Zeman, Eric) One advantage to selling would be to free up more cash to reinvest in the more popular products such as the Android phones and Xoom tablets. However, Motorola will most likely still incur some of the same problems with their strategies due to lack of company structure and organization. Motorola has beat several of their competitors in terms of quality and functionality of product, but in terms of application and user interface they still fall behind. Motorola will consistently face threats in their external environment as they introduce new products into the market place without an overall direction. Because the communication and technology industries move so quickly in terms of product development and innovation- companies like Motorola must continue to add new products to their line. This may include expounding upon the current product line with new versions of their now popular products. Motorola must continue to think about the interconnectivity of the global landscape in terms of communication and mobile devices. No longer are phones, the Internet, and entertainment separate entities. They are all merging into one social community that will eventually require one or several devices that encompasses all aspects of connectivity. Recently Motorola has made the move to release the Xoom, Atrix, and Android in several different countries around the globe including Malaysia, Brazil, and the UK. (www.motorola.com) This is a great step towards market penetration as technology becomes more and more global. Motorola should continue to position the company as Apple’s number one competitor while emphasizing the dominating characteristics of their technology. All steps towards entering new international markets are a step in the right direction. As Motorola strives to become a dominating competitor in the mobile and communications industry they must take a look at new products that can utilize the same operating system and applications as the DROID and Xoom. With Apple dominating the personal computer market share, and with the decrease of popularity in Windows based PCs there is an excellent opportunity for Motorola to release laptops and personal computers right now. If Motorola can fetch around $5 billion for the set-top-box division they may want to consider expanding on the popularity of the Android Software. The other limiting factor for Motorola is the lack of applications that support the Android software with the exception of Flash. However, Flash is being phased out as more software developers are focusing on XML designed webpages for mobile use, and Apple continues not to support Flash. One good thing about the Android App market is that there is a lot of free content available right now. (www.gizmosforgeeks.com) Motorola might want to consider flooding the market with these free 2.0 web apps because they are really the force that is driving the market. After examining all aspects of Motorola’s strategy and organizational structure, it is easy to identify the direction of where mobile communication is headed. It is clear to see that the all means of social connection and entertainment are becoming intertwined. If Motorola is going to turn their company around they must take a new direction and strategy when it comes to product development, implementation and application support. What Motorola has missed is the social aspect of marketing and branding. Motorola needs to give an overwhelming sense of purpose for customers to use their products if they are to truly compete. Otherwise they will see the DROID phones end up in a similar situation as the Razr. Competitors will take the best aspects of their technology and undercut their prices leaving all of Motorola’s product development to go to waste. Motorola should flood the market with free applications in order to steal market share from their prime competitor Apple. Eventually most 2.0 applications will become freely available, as supply will far exceed demand. If Motorola’s products focus more on the customer’s needs they will retain customer loyalty. The communication technology marketplace is constantly evolving in parallel with the social climate of global communication. Motorola must continue to create an overall connectivity between all products to be used in congruence in order to keep customers constantly connected. If Motorola can continue to expand their product line with new innovative products and keep customers coming back for more- they will have a great chance at success. References: Dignan, Larry. 3 December 2010. Assessing Motorola Mobility’s strategy: Patents, tablets and Weathering a Verizon iPhone Challenge. Retrieved from http://www.zdnet.com/blog Martin, Richard. 26 March 2008. Motorola’s Breakup Provides Opportunities For Competitors. Retrieved from. http://www.informationweek.com/news/206905887 Meryn, Richard. 11 Jan 2011. Serious Competition for the ipad? The new Motorola Xoom… Retrieved from http://www.industryleadersmagazine.com Mick, Jason. 26 April 2011. Motorola Xoom Sees Abysmal Sales, New Competitors Pour Salt on Its Wounds. http://connect.in.com/motorola-xoom Motorola. 4 May 2011. Retrieved from http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Home Motorola Xoom vs. Apple iPad 2- A Spec-by-Spec Breakdown. 6 April 2011. Retrieved from http://www.gizmosforgeeks.com Nguyen, Chuong. 22 February 2011. AT&T’s Motorola Atrix 4G: Deceptive Pricing Strategy or Uniformed Customer Service? Retrieved from http://www.gottabemobile.com Zeman, Eric. 14 January 2010. Motorola Weighing Strategic Options. Retrieved from http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=5373 References: Read More