Loading ...Illinois-based telecommunications company, Motorola has been around for nearly 80 years. A pioneer in many areas (including FM radio and cell phones), the company has seen its share of success and failures.
More recently, when one mentions Motorola to the younger crowd, they automatically think of cell phones, especially the RAZR However, older people might remember other products such as the first portable television. The TV was considered a “big screen TV,” at a whopping 19″ in 1960. A few years later, they produced the first colour TV using what later became an industry standard. Motorola’s television division was sold off in the 1970s.
The big, brick-sized cell phones of the 1980s were also pioneered by Motorola. It produced the first commercial cell phone in 1983. The device was nearly a foot long and weighed 28 oz. Compare that to Motorola’s RAZR 2 (debuted in 2007), which is about four inches in length (closed) and weighs about four ounces. How much things have changed in 24 years. Cell phones then were few and far between, used only by “important business people.” Today, even teenagers are seen sporting them.
While the RAZR, which launched in 2004, was probably one of the most popular cell phones in the last few years, its sequel, the RAZR 2 was not nearly as successful. Motorola is no longer faring so well in the cell phone market. Over the 2008 holiday season, its cell phone sales dropped to 19 million from 40.1 million over the holiday season of 2007. This isn’t only the result of the economic downturn. Motorola has been on the decline for the past few years. For example, in the last quarter of 2006, Motorola had a net income of $600 million. By the end of the first quarter in 2007, they were losing money. That’s quite a jump down. In addition, they haven’t had much product development nor any innovative products. Their PDA, the Moto Q, does not have nearly as much publicity as the iPhone or Blackberry (nor was it as popular as the RAZR). Perhaps the issue is that they’re a mid-priced product. People who can afford it will purchase higher end products, while others would purchase less-expensive phones.
Recently, it was announced that Motorola would be splitting into two entities, Motorola Mobile Devices and Motorola Broadband & Mobility Solutions. The split will be completed later in 2009.
On Tuesday, January 27, Motorola opened at 4.47 and closed at 4.71. Its 52-week high was 12.97, with the low at 3.00.
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