Motorola Now 'Cautious' about Partnership with Verizon because of iPhone

[pc747]

HTC likes the motorola locked bootloaders. More customers for them.

 

[Joneser2006]

And, what makes Moto think that AT&T customers won't go, "meh, not much better than the Iphony," if the Atrix is locked up? They won't get that new unlimited Android experience like we did with the Droid1 that keeps em coming back.

 

[Darksthour]

I've said it once and I'll say it again. The atrix has better hardware but if the bionic is unlocked it will be the better phone and more people will buy it. I know people who got into droid hacking after I did and got the X and droid 2. They have no idea what they are missing out on and are jealous of what I can do on my older phone. We call all only hope and speculate as to what the future will bring but I know we all are hoping that Motorola got their heads on straight and with the Xoom being unlocked and on Verizon they will continue to do the same with future products or face being phased out.

 

[DanielC]

I see it as less of an FU to Verizon whose main goal is to gain as many customers as possible and more of a lack in Moto's confidence in it's own product to compete with the CDMA rehash of the iPhone 4. Considering they believe Motoblur, locked bootloaders and crippled overpriced tablets are all good ideas I'm going to have to agree.

 

[chrisnimon]

They could probably fix that "significant reduction in revenue" by merely unlocking the bootloader, then those of us who have jumped ship might consider buying from them again.

 

[Drosul]

Considering they believe Motoblur, locked bootloaders and crippled overpriced tablets are all good ideas...QUOTE]

I've been using Moto phones for the past 8 or so years, and have always been satisfied with the technology, and quality of production available in their products. That said, Moto's latest business decisions really leave me scratching my head in regards to their leadership.

Putting the Atrix on ATT, to open a new market, reduce their reliance on Verizon, and stake a dominating claim as the top tier tech phone on that network? I understand that.

But Waiting 10ish months to release that same Atrix on their "home" network, where they already have the most consumer loyalty? Let alone releasing it so late, that the phone will go from being "the best phone on the network" to "another outdated phone on the network" is terrible business planning... The Atrixx is going to fail hard on Verizon when it is finally released without revamps. Bad business decision

-Making the Bionic, their flagship device on their "home" network, WEAKER than the same offering they have for ATT, AND STILL RELEASING IT MONTHS LATER. Is again a slap in the face to loyal customers.

-Continually wasting $$ on development of a UI (Blur) that actually devalues a phone, because customers don't want it and it degrades performance. Particularly when they are only a few years removed from severe financial crisis/ near bankruptcy. Poor business decision

-Continually wasting $$ on encryption/locking down devices, when the average user doesn't know they are there, and the power user takes business elsewhere over it being there. Basically spending their own money...to lose business.

-Backroom deals that place annoying undeletable software on phones...Software from now bankrupt companies (Blockbuster app)... Annoying and stupid business decision, but probably did make them money.

-Potentially burning bridges with their primary partner/ "home" network by not having a flagship device ready for their "4g" Network's launch, and then even worse, releasing a superior phone on their primary competitor's network simply because they released an outdated phone on their "home network", where Moto already had a significant market share/brand name advantage. Stupid business decision

-Producing an overpriced tablet. There is nothing that can be done with a tablet, that cannot be done better with a laptop at that pricepoint. Maybe I'm just missing something on these tablets...

-Droid X2, Droid 3, etc... Are all margional upgrades, none noteworthy enough to be worth a new release. Why rehash and oversaturate your own market?

-Finally... Waiting so damn long to put out the Bionic on Verizon... People want 4g phones for Verizon's network. Why the hell would a company purposely delay a device on their "home" network, so long that nearly every single one of their competitors can put out their competing phones before the bionic releases? Moto should want to snatch up as much loyalty as possible for the emerging Verizon 4g market, much as they did back when the droid 1 released, snatching up the Android OS market. You get that by being first in the market... not last. Just look at how many people are looking at/jumping ship to the Thunderbolt, which is already basically an outdated technology/ copy of the Evo, but people itching to jump on the new 4g bandwagon.

I just don't understand Moto. If I ran my business going out of my to piss off customers, partners, and wasting money the way Moto does, I wouldn't stay in business very long.

 

[Phlack]

So, the new Droid X2 rehash is supposed to come out on 3G only? And a locked bootloader? Maybe we should send Jha a couple of books on the basics of running a business. I guess that leaves the Thunderbolt...kinda boring though.

 

[Java]

Amen to that Drosul. Seriously.
I would love to pick up a Bionic... if it wasn't six months after I wanted it. The fact that Atrix is already out and I'm jumping ship to the Thunderbolt as soon as I can better be a good ole slap to their face. Was really expecting more.

 

[codye91]

Here is my view. Verizon will still more than likely be the hotspot for Motorola and Android, but forreal, if they are so worried about losing sales. Get something new on the market already, I mean there are so many people just waiting their little behinds off for the bionic to get here. They don't need to worry. Their sales are going to be a result of how long they leave us waiting for the bionic to release. Simple enough.

 

[rlfitz]

I am getting the thunderbolt. enjoyed my moto droid. but going HTC now.

 

[UltraDroid]

Since I have not forgiven Motorola for their past efforts with locked bootloaders and the so-called "eFuse" and refuse to spend any of my money on their products, the dilemma they find themselves in with Verizon prompts me to say :clap::clap:

What a richly deserved pickle they find themselves in.

-Mike

 

[jroc]

lol...its funny reading some of the comments here..sales are declining cuz of the locked bootloaders....

Did the bootloader have any bearing on Eris sales, Nexus 1 sales? What about Incredible sales, Fascinate sales? Since ppl like to use forums as indicators how about this:

The Droid X section is bigger than the Fascinate and Incredible section combined. Look at the Droid 2 section vs. the Fascinate and Incredible. And I remember reading the Droid 2 didnt sell as well as the Droid X...

But locked bootloaders are the reason for declining sales...right. It sure didnt hurt initial sales, and it doesnt seem to be helping sales of other phones with unlocked bootloaders.

Motorola just dont have any new Android phones on Verizon now, thats all. Maybe with Verizon getting the iPhone Verizon wasnt so pressed to get the Atrix.

I see it as less of an FU to Verizon whose main goal is to gain as many customers as possible and more of a lack in Moto's confidence in it's own product to compete with the CDMA rehash of the iPhone 4. Considering they believe Motoblur, locked bootloaders and crippled overpriced tablets are all good ideas I'm going to have to agree.

Now that I would see as more logical too. But, the Atrix is on AT&T so I dont think its that so much. Remember, we dont know if the iPhone 5 will come to Verizon. AT&T might still have exclusive rights in some way. If the iPhone 5 will go to AT&T first Motorola still has to deal with the iPhone 5.

Yea it will be June for the iPhone 5, the Atrix will be about 4 months old. Maybe Moto just doesnt wanna go head to head with the iPhone release. Its smart. Dont let its release overshadow your own product. Look at how some of us have theories about the Thunderbolt release getting pushed back.

Or maybe Motorola sees something we dont, like Verizon catering to the iPhone more than any other phone on Verizon in meetings? Actually...some of us do see it that way with recent events...

 

[Beardface]

Really... You people think that locked bootloaders affects their bottom line at all? Whatever. 99% of all Android users (and that percentage is increasing by the day with all the new converts out there) don't give a flying flip about rooting, modding, customizing, etc. All they want is a phone that can do apps, check email, text, make calls, and occasionally get on the internet, and do all that flawlessly. Apple makes a ton of money because their device does that silky smooth and with a hell of a lot less bugs than any other device out there. Android is great, but it is still buggy cause its fragmented.

Blur or Sense, it really doesn't matter. The average consumer doesn't care what the phone is running as long as it runs it well. If Moto thinks they can make some extra money off developing their own UI that is made to run silky smooth, then they will do it, and there isn't anything you can do about it. And you know what, other manufacturers are doing the same. Just the way the economy is. If you can milk some extra money, then you do it. And as far as locking down their bootloader. Well, there isn't a damn thing you are going to do to get them to change that, so you might as well just get used to it. Moto locks it down to protect their product due to a warranty that has been abused. You say they should unlock it to help the rooters. They are locking it cause the rooters bilked money and free devices out of them for a while, and they wanted to patch up the bleeding. Sites like this are WHY they are now locked down. Deal with it.

Now, Moto is dead on about Verizon and Apple. Verizon sold out big time to get the iPhone on the network, and it is only going to be bad for its current handsets. They are focusing ALL their resources into making sure they take over the Apple market, while trying to get their current Android users on the iPhone as well. Yes, this really hurts the bottom line for Moto, and would have hurt them regardless of when the Atrix is released on Big Red. I don't blame Moto one bit for trying to release their top end device on another network after Verizon already gave them the finger this year.

Lets not forget, the Moto Droid kept Verizon relevant over the past 2 years when AT&T was dominating the smartphone market with the iPhone. Hell, you could say that without the Droid, Verizon could be viewed as an equivalent to TMobile right now. And now does Big Red thank Moto and Android for making them the #1 smartphone network in the US? They bend over backwards for Apple to bring on the iPhone, force HTC and Moto to push back the releases of their new devices to not interfere with their iPhone release, and instruct all their in-store employees to exclusively push the iPhone to their customers. Yeah, real big thanks.

I don't blame Moto one bit if they choose to hitch their ride elsewhere. Verizon hasn't exactly been all that great to them recently, and I wouldn't be surprised to eventually see HTC do the same.

 

[jroc]

Drosul, I agree with alot of what you said. The next 2 years will be interesting to see what Motorola does.

 

[pc747]

@beardface I have the droid 2 and initially I love it and liked a lot of features it had including blur. Then I notice my phone lagging more than usual. When I tried a rom with out blur I realized how heave blur was.

Beardface my point is that motorola's blur, preloaded apps, and locked bootloader is combining to bite them in the end. I started a thread on the motorola forum about blur. Do you realize the top 2 reasons people, normal people who can care less about rooting, people rooted their device was to remove preloaded apps and speed their phone up. Blur is running so many services and apps in the background that it literally slowing some people's phones done. I am running a blurless rom and it runs so much smoother and faster tha with blur.
What I am saying is if blur was smoother and you did not have as many preloaded apps I dont think we would have as many people caring about rootng the d2/x. So essentially blur and preloaded apps, which was designed to bring in customers, are causing people to learn about rooting and allowing people to see complaints about blur. Those people put 2 and 2 together and think "yeah I been having the same problem".
And Drodul said it best, if all you worried about are the 1% who root then why lock the bootloader in the first place. Such a knee jerk reaction over 1% is a waste of time and money. Obviously its bigger than that if they felt they needed to do it and then explain their actions.