Motorola today issued a strong challenge to its rivals in the battle for leadership in the wireless communications market. On the opening day of the CeBIT exhibition in Hannover, Germany, it unveiled a complete new portfolio of digital personal communications products and promised Internet-browsing capability across its entire digital mobile phone range in 2000.
The new digital portfolio includes the world's smallest and lightest dual-band GSM mobile phone, the world's first tri-band GSM phone, a new mobile organiser for the company's StarTAC GSM phones and the first two-way radio product for European consumers.
"We believe that this product range is the best on the market in Europe," said Frank Lloyd, president of Motorola's Personal Communications Sector for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). "Our aim is to give consumers not just a solution to their communications needs, but sheer delight at being able to take their world with them wherever they go."
Motorola announced that it will make all its digital phones Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) compliant as soon as the interoperability standards for the protocol are agreed. Frank Lloyd said: "This means that consumers can expect to see the first Internet-browsing capabilities appearing on a Motorola GSM phone by the end of the year, and across our entire digital phone range in 2000."
The company's new digital communications product portfolio was described by Bob Growney, Motorola's president and chief operating officer, as among the "first fruits" of the company's renewal process. He said: "When we set out to create the 'new' Motorola, our number one objective was to put the needs of our customers - and ultimately consumers - first. These products demonstrate just how far we've come in the last 18 months."
Motorola also commented on its new partnership with MIT's Media Lab to create a DigitalDNA Lab to research potential new opportunities in the fast-growing embedded electronic solutions market. Jim Norling, president of Motorola EMEA, said: "MIT has some of the finest technology thinkers in the world. We have unrivalled experience in delivering embedded solutions - our DigitalDNA - to customers across the globe. Combine the two, and you've got a powerful partnership to explore the potential for a market that could be worth more than $40bn by 2002."
Jim Norling explained that a core aspect of Motorola's renewal strategy involves forming partnerships and alliances with others in order to deliver the digital world to consumers. He said: "Our $1bn alliance with Cisco, our partnerships with Vodafone and Alcatel on UMTS technology, and last Friday's announcement of our $400m strategic relationship with Dolphin Telecom for the roll-out of TETRA digital two-way radio technology in Europe, are all examples of the new way in which we are operating as we move into the convergence era."
Motorola is a global leader in providing integrated communications solutions and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 1998 were $29.4 billion.
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