MOTOSCRWD; Why a Sinking Ship Shouldn’t Pop its Life Vests
As a whole, CTIA today was a bit on the disappointing side. Sure there were a few exciting things debuted, most or all of which we’ve already told you about, of course. We were particularly disappointed with Motorola however, and not for the reason we expected to be. As we showed you in our post earlier today, Motorola brought some interesting devices to CTIA. The ROKR E8 for example is a sweet device that we were planning a new dedicated in-depth post on. The Z9 and V950 are nice handsets that we certainly would’ve explored a bit further as well. As we touched upon in the post linked above however, we were greeted with less than open arms at the Moto booth. No, we weren’t behind any gags and we certainly weren’t bothering anyone. We were simply there to cover the show.
Here’s where Moto’s got it all wrong: leaks are good. Big companies know this and they often embrace leaks rather than hold a chip on their collective shoulders. Hell, some even leak info themselves to generate buzz. Motorola seems to take the opposite stance with regards to leaks. What they seemingly fail to realize is that leaks are really the only press that Moto gets in the blogosphere that isn’t negative. We were greeted at the Moto booth by a smiling "booth girl" who chatted us up for a bit, and then it was all down hill. We couldn’t get a single rep to talk to us for more than a few seconds. Averted eyes, walk-aways… Do we have contagious leprosy?
There was some silver lining, though. Before we were asked to "go take some pictures of the outside of the booth" (say what?) while snapping a shot of the V950, a funny conversation was overheard:
Moto Rep: This [ROKR E8] is one of our newer phones that we’re really excited about
Random Attendee: "Yeah, I think I saw that thing last year on Boy Genius Report. Is that really new?"
That’s right Moto. You’re going to run into BGR readers everywhere you go, and with our numbers at an all time high, don’t count on us going anywhere anytime soon. Don’t embrace us either; keep thinking that blogosphere love doesn’t matter. That really seems to be working out pretty well for you. It should be mentioned by the way, that we were greeted at every other booth we visited with excitement and an eagerness to show us the latest and greatest that each company had to offer. Companies big and small know us well and love us for the attention that we bring them of course. And why wouldn’t they? Sure we might throw out a jab here and there but companies know that news is news, good and bad. We wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t report on Motorola’s plummeting stock prices or the fact that the Motorola mobile division had to be split off from the rest of Moto’s business to prevent a fire sale. So Motorola, you just keep on flopping around like the fish out of water that you’ve become; it’s obviously apparent that you don’t know what the heck is going on, not even internally. Here at BGR, we’ll continue to inform and entertain our millions of readers as best we can, and reserve our coverage for companies we think might still be around in a year or two…
Shots fired! Well said kieeed
Take that Motorola.
Well BGR don’t you think that should tell you something? The poor rep is trying to show off his new handset and the customer is not interested because you guys leaked it so long before it was finished that the customer thought it was an old handset. While leaks do account for alot of free press and hype I have heard from moto insiders that these leaks have also been very detrimental to moto as the other manufacturers see the designs and come up with their own moto inspired designs. (and we have seen this happen over & over again)
As much as I like BGR I like Moto a whole lot more. They are the people who invented the cell phone while you just leak and comment about them. Method Man said it best “You talk about it while they live it”. You would not even have a job were it not for them. That’s just mean saying you will stick to covering manufacturers that will still be around in a year? Moto has been around LONG before BGR and despite their recent troubles will be here LONG after.
While I agree that Moto has deep seeded issues, calling them a “sinking ship” is off base. They will sell between 130-140 millions phones this year with a dirt portfolio.
Does their software and silicon strategy suck? Yes (Choosing Freescale crippled them). Do they need to lay off hundreds if not thousands of employees? Yes. Spin them off and get a CEO that understands software platforms.
I once have a broken watch, it tells the correct time twice a day.
There is a sort of redundancy developing in the gadget-o-sphere.
But, by the Grays, it is a marvelous redundancy! :O)
We are approaching a singularity and infinite fragmentation…the ultimate mininotebook/smartphone/gps/gadget and, at the other end, the creative end, ondemand manufacturing and conjuring of anything dreamt.
A glorious age that makes me want to shout nonsense and glee into the sky:
Fer-fee-wokka-dooey!
Oh come on get real people! There was no reason to completely disrespect bgr like that. They might not have the page counts as engadget but they are the biggest site for mobile phone scoops and you don’t just ignore and flat out disrespect a writer like that. If you have ever read bg’s moto posts they are 99% always positive. They love moto but enough is enough and I’m glad they didn’t stand for this shit.
As if posting a sinking ship with the Moto logo on it and a title “MotoFukd” is not disrespectful? Cmon’
moto doesn’t introduce Z10, a UIQ smartphone will come to T-Mobile in Q3
too bad…
PWNED!!! So I was looking at new phones this past weekend with the gf and we didnt even sniff a Moto!! They all look old and worn out. So many better phones out there!
It is pretty sad at the rate Motorola’s going. Yes, it’s going through a hard time, but it’s not like it wasn’t self-induced. “Oh, let’s make 20 trillion variants of the RAZR, and make every other model we sell a variant of the RAZR variants. Furthermore, let’s completely make our phones un-innovative and un-fun, and simply depend on their four letter names to boost their image. Better yet, name a phone the MotoQ Q9, just to be redundant.”
As for leaks, so what? Every major phone is leaked, and yet because they are good, they still manage to garner interest, even after being released ages after their debut. The Z9 is pretty much the slider version of the RAZR2. Obviously, techies aren’t going to be interested in a rehashed version of an overdone phone’s successor.
Moto Cellular is in rough shape and I think they are unprepared for the gravity of the problem. Just like the CNNMoney article that detailed the swift fall of Dell (because they were so desktop manufacturing heavy in a world that, overnight, changed preference to laptops), I think Moto’s problems are multi-fold.
They had at best a mid tier platform pre-Razr and during Razr. The industry also grabbed hold with mobile data (as crappy as EDGE was when it first got started) and voice all rising exponentially during the Razr dynasty and while the success was grand, Motorola wasn’t nimble (or lead correctly) to notice, act and attack the coming trend of “wireless mobility” that they so desperately clung to. Next it further missed mobility not capitalizing on 3G and next generation GSM technology in the states only to lose mindshare and market share to Samsung…who either gambled or saw the signs that 3G was real and what the public wanted.
GM, Ford, Chrysler were all dominant in their day too until the market changes caught them unprepared (being caught with gas guzzlers as oil spiked), foreign companies ripped off the ideas, made them cheaper and produced them twice as fast.
MotoFukd is incorrect, because there is still 50% of the business out there that drives mission critical two-way radio and set top boxes. They’ve just shielded Mobile Devices from the blistering fall they’re taking and the other segments have had enough too.
Motorola needs to take a hard look at their development cycle, because 18-24 months per phone, just isn’t going to cut it. I saw the Z9 on here, got excited, waited, lost interest and then was stunned that it was even released it has been so long since it was scooped on here.
As a huge fan of Motorola, not only as a company, but as an American Institution, I certainly hope they get it together and rise again in the Mobile Devices arena. Best of Luck Moto.
The Phone that they were talking about was the E8 not the Z9 & the Moto Q9h is called that the Moto Q9h, not the Moto Q Q9. You got everything wrong.
Moto isn’t doing too hott but still they might have one or two tricks left before they kick the bucket.
What DukeL. Word.
Although it is Moto’s fault as well.
If one leak stuff too early (and one is responsible for one’s own leaks as well), then it kills sales.
But BGR needs to understand now also, why Moto and many others do NOT want to leak too early.
It may serve BGR ad impressions well for a while, but it kills the heatseeker sales completely.
Leaks are NOT always good, to say that is to show a gross misunderstanding of the wireless market. Leaks are good for companies that Samsung, in fact they have benefited from the media exposure and hype generated to a company that was without a doubt lesser known in the US market.
Leaks are bad for companies like Motorola. Everyone complains about the RAZR and then subsequent derivatives like the RAZR2, Z9 (ohhh it’s a razr2 slider), etc. But when you leak products far ahead of time, it creates a business advantage for companies like Samsung which have thrived by stealing design ideas from EVERYONE! You may not like the RAZR but countless companies have reworked that innovative form factor. I mean let’s be serious, do any blogs complain about Apple being so tight assed about product leaks? Apple is notorious for not letting anyone see anything ahead of time aside from when Steve Jobs says so. Stomping your feet and saying you aren’t going to cover Motorola is juvenile, if you don’t, everyone else will.
Leaks are good most of the time….Moto is fukd,mostly by themselves. Let’s hope their ship doesn’t sink for real. I love MOTO! They just need to send razrs the way of the pet rock.
Go in on ‘um Zach! I’m glad you put them on blast. They have no room to shun ANYONE who has given them positive press. They SHOULD be ashamed and apologetic to BGR. I guess it’s easier for them to blame everyone but themselves for their failing wireless division.
Mo’ fire! Mo’ fire!
maybe it is these biased jabs that made some companies begin to dislike your company. You have to be careful, somepeopl embrace product leaks and some deem it a big problem, it is best to leak info in small bits or waiting for confirmation before releasing, if at all
“reserve our coverage for companies we think might still be around in a year or two…”
Oh snap! As an AT&T retailer in a small market (West Texas), the only Moto products we sell are the V series (V3, V3xx, V9) and their GoPhone models. I won’t sell them to a customer unless they come in specifically looking for one, and even then I try to change their mind. I get too many complaints, and too many returns on the phones. Moto is a sinking ship, in both quality of their products, failure to address known issues with older models (V3 battery problems), and customer support.
They don’t need a fire sale, they don’t need to spin off the handset division, they need a top down complete overhaul of their handset division, and when they hire their replacements, they need to do the research on who they’re hiring, not just hire the first cheap exec that drops a resume on their doorstep. That’ll just land them an exec that’s only looking out for his bank account, and not the company (Oh wait, that’s already happened! twice if I’m not mistaken). It is unfortunate that a pioneer in the wireless telecom industry is this far behind the rest of the pack, but lets stop beating around the bush and call a spade a spade, Moto got complacent on the success of the V3 and made some bad decisions because of it, now they’re reaping the “rewards” of those bad decisions. Don’t get mad at the people that report the news. Would you be mad at an anchorman that reports on a gunman shooting up a school, or would you be mad at the gunman? BGR isn’t responsible for Moto’s poor market standing, their execs are. BGR’s just reporting on that like a good, responible news service would. The last sentence was spot on.
Well you would think the sinking ship that is motorola would be more then willing to show off their warez, but with that being said you can take pride in the fact that your not the only one being “snubbed”by moto BGR, wmexperts felt the same treatment from them.
I just wanted to throw in my two cents here…I believe when Zach referred to them as a “sinking ship” he was talking about the newly created mobile division. Not the other side. Secondly, you can say leaks are bad sometimes, and that’s fine. But the point is that the reason there are so many leaks out of Motorola is due to their complete meltdown of internal organization and accountability. If you know there are unauthorized leaks, you find a way to stop them. Period.
my friend whos an indirect dealer littary has a carboard box fll of broken v3’s heres th oxxymoron the customers think it cool looking but it breake an they comback in asking for another one not even befor the contract is up
You’re getting a little too excited about yourself BGR. Moto guyss are trying to close deals with vendors not cater to he techno-gossip pubs. Show some respect… or you’ll never receive any.
BTW – Oki made the first cell phone.
I agree with your comments, but your story title is immature. Is it possible to change it, or is BGR not to be taken seriously?