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Motorola switches to Android – AT&T still rejects devices for being “dated”
Motorola has not had much luck on the Windows Mobile platform, and it seems their Android jaunt is going too well either, with AT&T rejecting the devices they converted from Windows Mobile to Android as dated in design, and Verizon postponing half of their Motorola Android device launches to 2010.
Now we are not saying, we are just saying… Maybe the problem was not with Windows Mobile but with Motorola after all.
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (TheStreet) -- Motorola's (MOT Quote) one last chance has one fewer partner to help make it happen.
AT&T (T Quote) cancelled plans to carry Google (GOOG Quote) Android-powered phones later this year, says MKM Partners analyst Tero Kuittinen, who initiated coverage on Motorola with a sell rating Thursday.
Motorola hoped to convert some Microsoft (MOT Quote) Windows Mobile phones to the Android operating system, but the devices were deemed too out of date for AT&T's tastes, according to sources close to the company and in the retail channel, says Kuittinen.
AT&T declined to comment for this story, and Motorola was not immediately available for comment.
With Motorola's mobile phone business hanging on the success of new Google Android phones, the company could have used a big telco like AT&T to push its phones at some of its 70 million customers.
Phone chief Sanjay Jha, the architect of Motorola's bold Android strategy, told analysts on an earnings call last month that the company would have two Android phones available by the holidays and that it had signed on two telcos as partners.
It is widely expected that Motorola will announce at a Sept. 10 conference that Deutsche Telekom's (DT Quote) T-Mobile and Verizon (VZ Quote) are the two carriers, though there has been some confusion about Verizon's role, since the company has not been asked to participate in the event.
Ideally, Motorola would have had several phones available this year at all the major wireless shops to help speed the company's turnaround. But as it stands, Motorola's recovery effort is a little shorthanded.
"T-Mobile, with its shrinking new mobile subscriber numbers, is nowhere near the distribution partner AT&T would have been," says Kuittinen.
Motorola expects to have its Android phones available at international telcos and new models next year, but it's the first impressions that matter most when big expectations are on the line.
Observers expect Verizon to have a very promising full-featured Motorola Android phone available in October. If the phone is delayed until November or later, it will be a major blemish on Motorola and probably a boost for rivals like Apple (AAPL Quote), Palm (PALM Quote) and Research In Motion (RIMM Quote).
From an investor's standpoint, Motorola can't afford many mistakes.
if I can still sync to my itunes and carry around all my music and movies with me without the crappiness of AT&T's network I might be up for dropping my iphone.
the iphone totally rocks, but pairing it with the horrible AT&T network is KILLING me.
the screen is so much better, you can carry movies/music and watch movies on a much better screen!
Unfortunately most of my music is stuck in Itunes and DRM'd, and I've gotten lazy and actually pay for my music so it's a bit of a pain in the ass to get it on anything other than an a ipod. I also don't want to go back to carrying multiple devices..
Damn, i was hoping it wouldn't be a slider phone. I have been waiting (verizon wireless customer) for the iphone killer. I'm just not fan of slider phones. But i'll wait till i see it in person to pass judgement on it.
Droid does..........
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