Motorola Solutions to shrink - again

[szron]

I think Forbes puts it best:

Motorola's Road to Irrelevancy - Focusing on Its Core - Forbes

I have to point out some problems I have with this article. It's a radio discussion board so I have to point out that I don't agree that 2-way radio is an obsolete market. It's anything but obsolete, it has become too expensive and not up to date to be used widely by commercial businesses (see my and MTS' post on IDEN).

Also saying that Blackberry stole the business sector doesn't make sense for me. Blackberry killed itself by not going the 'hype-smartphone-apps-cool-revolutionary' route with their phones. I guess the market for enterprise phones was less than they thought.

And saying that Motorola lacks innovation is an overstatement made by someone who doesn't know what they are talking about. Motorola introduced TDMA, 700MHz, dualband radios and Band 14 LTE devices in last few years. Prices and marketing techniques aside they don't have bad R&D department. They are still relevant and will be for a while. It's up to them if it's gonna stay that way.

 

[ten13]

Cell phones did take up a lot of Mot's non-emergency business, but one of their biggest problems was/is that technology has sped along, and is speeding along, and just about every radio maker has the capability to make, technically, the same radio as everyone else.

What always made Mot stand out was the durability of the radios, something that only a few makers have been willing to keep up with. And it's probably the only reason for a department to buy Motorola anymore, if the purchasing agent knows that.

The other problem is Motorola's ego. While many 2-way radio manufacturers either supply software, or offer it for sale outright, Motorola thinks that theirs is some type of holy grail of radio communications. You would think that, in this day and age, Mot would also offer for sale their software, maybe just SOME software, without getting Congressional Resolution beforehand to purchase it.

I wonder how the "Motorola Authorized Dealers" are making out in this every-changing radio market?

 

[iamhere300]

I have to point out some problems I have with this article. It's a radio discussion board so I have to point out that I don't agree that 2-way radio is an obsolete market. It's anything but obsolete, it has become too expensive and not up to date to be used widely by commercial businesses (see my and MTS' post on IDEN).

Also saying that Blackberry stole the business sector doesn't make sense for me. Blackberry killed itself by not going the 'hype-smartphone-apps-cool-revolutionary' route with their phones. I guess the market for enterprise phones was less than they thought.

And saying that Motorola lacks innovation is an overstatement made by someone who doesn't know what they are talking about. Motorola introduced TDMA, 700MHz, dualband radios and Band 14 LTE devices in last few years. Prices and marketing techniques aside they don't have bad R&D department. They are still relevant and will be for a while. It's up to them if it's gonna stay that way.

IDEN was not a bad product, just a problematic rollout, and by limiting it to two different groups in the US, it was never going to be the big product they hoped. Once again, marketing decisions killed it. It never worked in so much of the country, that it was simply not the option that certain people had hoped for.

TDMA Introduced by Motorola into the two way field? Don't tell the other companies that had DMR radios out already. Shhhhhh. Don't tell that to the Tier 1 manufacturers in Europe.

700 Mhz introduced by Motorola? Now, I don't know who actually had the first radio that could be delivered to the customer on 700, but no real innovation was required - the band opened up, and it was made available to put equipment on. . No innovation. Such a stretch.

Band 14 LTE? Same thing. Old technology, new band. No big deal.

Dual band radios? I guess the Ham radios that have been around for many years in dual band, or the old Standard commercial dual band radio does not count?

And before the widespread adoption of smart phones, RIM did take the business cell phone market. No doubt at all there. Snatched it right away from Motorola. Times have certainly changed since then, but Motorola still does not have the business sector back.

Not slamming the durability and quality of the Motorola product - but their business management has been terrible, and the actions they are going through right now show that.

 

[balibago]

Untrue

The latest Motorola two way communications systems are both portable and affordable.I hope they go under on account of that ADP encryption.

 

[ten13]

Let's remember something about all those software 'bells and whistles' that Motorola invented: they did it for one reason only: so they could go to a know-nothing police or fire purchasing agent and tell them, "You MUST have this new innovation in your radios, and we're the only ones who have it...." That has been the story with Motorola for decades.

From basic trunking, to digital, to various types of encryption, Motorola sold those 'bill of goods' to these departments, insisting that they'd never be able to fight another crime or put out another fire unless they had these Motorola radios. And these departments bought it, hook, line, and sinker.

Some, to their own peril.

Now these departments can look elsewhere to buy radios, and save big bucks by doing so. And Motorola is scrambling to salvage what they have now.

 

[BenScan]

Second contractor protests FBI’s no-bid, $500 million deal with Motorola | Latest N...

 

[ten13]

If Motorola has to do all this conniving and all this 'wink-and-nod' type of negotiations to keep competitors out and to sell their radios...in the 21st Century, no less....then they are probably in worse shape than anyone knows.

SELL!

 

[greenthumb]

I have to point out that I don't agree that 2-way radio is an obsolete market. It's anything but obsolete, it has become too expensive and not up to date to be used widely by commercial businesses (see my and MTS' post on IDEN).

Opinion, but I think that it is safe to say that the 2-way market has been shrinking for years and is certainly not what it used to be before Nextel took things over. They have been riding the highs of several FCC-mandated initiatives for the past 10 years (800 MHz rebounding and VHF/UHF narrow banding) along with a lot of grant money that was available, but there aren't any new FCC mandates on the horizon and grant money is a fraction of what it used to be. They'll have to work hard for their dollars over the next five years, so we'll see where things go. My opinion is that the outlook is not great for 2-way manufacturers unless they figure out how to bridge the gap into the LTE market for public-safety data.

Also saying that Blackberry stole the business sector doesn't make sense for me. Blackberry killed itself by not going the 'hype-smartphone-apps-cool-revolutionary' route with their phones. I guess the market for enterprise phones was less than they thought.

They're saying that BlackBerry took all of the market away from Motorola, which it did. All Motorola could put out in the mid-2000s were RAZRs, and once the novelty of those ran out and RIM created a full portfolio of BlackBerry devices, all of the business went to RIM that was previously going to Motorola. Apple, Samsung, et. al. have since taken it away from RIM because, in my opinion, they pulled a Motorola and didn't continue innovating on new products.

And saying that Motorola lacks innovation is an overstatement made by someone who doesn't know what they are talking about.

They do - what have they come up with recently that has just blown the cell phone market away? They came up with the RAZR and that was it. Let's be realistic - they haven't even put out something in the 2-way market that is mind-blowing...they just have a very loyal customer base and pretty good quality controls. Don't get me wrong, they make good products, but I wouldn't characterize them as innovative.

"You won't get fired for buying..."

 

[902]

Perhaps they're just "right-sizing."

 

[JRayfield]

And what company does not try to set themselves apart from their competition? That can be done through pricing (who's got the cheapest price for the same product), or quality and functionality (who has the better quality product with more functionality). If everyone tried to compete on nothing but price, there would no innovation and we'd have nothing but 'cheap junk' to purchase. This applies in all areas of business, not just radio communications.

John Rayfield, Jr. CETma
W0PM

Let's remember something about all those software 'bells and whistles' that Motorola invented: they did it for one reason only: so they could go to a know-nothing police or fire purchasing agent and tell them, "You MUST have this new innovation in your radios, and we're the only ones who have it...." That has been the story with Motorola for decades.

From basic trunking, to digital, to various types of encryption, Motorola sold those 'bill of goods' to these departments, insisting that they'd never be able to fight another crime or put out another fire unless they had these Motorola radios. And these departments bought it, hook, line, and sinker.

Some, to their own peril.

Now these departments can look elsewhere to buy radios, and save big bucks by doing so. And Motorola is scrambling to salvage what they have now.

 

[SCPD]

I was thinking, maybe Motorola secretely puts the average going price into their model numbers...

XTS2500 = $2500

XTS3500 = $3500

APX7000 = $7000

Am I around the ballpark here?

LOL Nice, Well done except for the APX, if they added the price based on the Model then that would have to be a base price. I've seen APX run as high as the Harris Unity (Close to 10K).

I heard from a Motorola Dealer once that the reason Motorola was so big in Public Safety Communications was that Cops and firemen knew nothing about radio except that when they hit the PTT button they wanted it to work. But today, Both Police and Firefighters are much more educated adding the communications systems much more advanced, Public Safety officials have found a need to understand the radio better and require more "bells & whistles" which companies like Kenwood, Vertex, iCOM, TAIT, Thales to name a few have been able to incorporate into the radio while keeping the price down.

Another thing is that Motorola managed its company much like Microsoft (in fact many MS managers bounced between MS and Motorola during the early 2000's) Really crippling Motorola.

What do I know though, I just read this crap online LOL!