Two days ago, Motorola announced the LTE variant of the Moto G, the Moto E as well as a new Motorola Moto Alert app. The company President, Rick Osterloh, and Vice President of product marketing, Steve Sinclair were present in Sao Paulo Brazil for the unveiling. The two head honchos talked about competition, the challenges they face and Motorola’s position in the competitive smartphone market. We’ve broken it down into the 5 most important facts that were revealed at the event.
In only 5 months of sales, the Moto G is the company's top selling smarpthone not only in Brazil but also the world, becoming the highest-selling device of the company's entire history. Moreover, Brazil is the second largest market for the Moto G, beat only by the USA. Motorola also used the Moto E event to launch the 4G version of the Moto G that comes with a microSD slot for expanding the internal memory.
Rick Osterloh didn't miss a chance to stick it to Samsung, especially when he suggested that the Koreans have abandoned users by not offering OS updates. Recently, Samsung confirmed that there will be no update for the Galaxy S3 international version, a slap in the face for many users and certainly a dumb move. The President took the opportunity to reiterate Motorola’s commitment to the user:
We offer software updates faster than any other manufacturer. Motorola does not abandon its consumers.
In fact, the numbers presented by the CEO are clear: the company's update brought KitKat in only 19 days after the launch of the Moto G. It took LG 116 days to provide an OS update to the LG G2 and Samsung needed 106 days for the Galaxy S4, an eye-opening comparison.
According to Motorola, the average price of a smartphone in Brazil is R$625, somewhat lower than the world average of 337 USD. Rick emphasized that the Moto E costs less than either of these prices??, costing R$529. The Moto G 4G costs R$799, about 219 USD. In addition to such attractive prices, these mid-level Motorola devices have good specs which is why they are so well accepted by mobile consumers worldwide.
The Moto G is the best selling smartphone in Brazil and Mexico. In India, it sold out in the first day of sales. While acknowledging that some users in the United States and Europe are attracted to the company’s low-cost smartphones, the appeal is undeniable in various global emerging markets, like Brazil. In such places, they would like the Moto E to be the first smartphone people buy after their feature phones.
The CEO once again bashed Samsung in a comparison between the Galaxy Fame and the Moto E. According to him, "other competing low-end devices are of poor quality, come with outdated software and lack features. The Motorola Moto E is different and we can prove it’’.
What do you think of Motorola’s position? Do you think the Moto E will soon dominate the low-cost smartphone market?
(originally by Tales Gomes)
