Motorola‘s share of the global mobile phone market has fallen from a Razor-fuelled 22 plus per cent four years ago, to just 3.7 per cent in the latest quarter. But don’t count the US phone maker out just yet.
Verizon Wireless, the largest US mobile phone network operator, confirmed today that it will start selling its second Android-based Motorola smartphone next month.
The new handset, branded Devour, follows strong fourth-quarter sales of Motorola’s Droid phone, which helped Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon Communications and Britain’s Vodafone group, answer the iPhone 3Gs in the crucial fourth quarter. Verizon’s arch-rival, AT&T, is the iPhone’s exclusive network operator in the US.
Motorola’s loss-making mobile phone division has pinned its turnaround hopes on Android-based handsets and plans to launch 20 new Android-powered devices this year.
The Devour which features a 3.1-inch touch screen and a slide-up keyboard similar to the Droid, will be the first sold by Verizon Wireless to use Motorola’s Motoblur user interface and software.
Motoblur, which made its first appearance on the Motorola Cliq, automatically sychronises contacts from work and personal e-mail services including Gmail, with messages, posts and other digital content from popular social networking sites including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
The Devour also comes with a 3Mp integrated digital camera, Wi-Fi and GPS chips and a suite of Google Android applications including Google’s beta Google Maps Navigation app.
