Motorola Says ‘Vast Majority’ of Its New Devices Will Use Android

Posted by: jtlondon on: October 30, 2009

• In: Home
• Leave a Comment

Motorola’s co-chief executive said Thursday that most of its new devices will run Google’s Android operating system as well as its social-networking-friendly user interface Motoblur.

“The vast majority of our devices will be launched on Android platform,” Sanjay Jha said during the telecom-gear maker’s earnings call. “We are more focused on Android, and I believe that we’re putting more resources on Android than anybody else.”

While the mobile platform to date has been used primarily on high-end smart phones, he said that Motorola expects to “drive Android down to lower price points” around $150 to $250. “It is that kind of a range that we need to deliver to really expand the scope of where Android can play, and that is the scope of our strategy,” he said.

As rival cellphone makers like Samsung, HTC and LG develop their own Android handsets, Motorola will compete by “dramatically improv[ing] our execution,” Mr. Jha said. “We will deliver products. We will leverage our platforms. We will leverage the work that we are doing on one platform to deliver a number of SKUs and address a broader segment of the marketplace.”

Most of Motorola’s new devices will also feature Motoblur, an interface that lets users post their status to multiple sites and look at updates from Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other social-media services. Cliq, which T-Mobile will begin selling in November, has both Android and Blur, but Droid, which also goes on sale via Verizon Wireless next month, will not run Blur as it is what Mr. Jha called “a Google experience device.” Verizon Wireless will begin carrying Blur-capable devices next year, he said.