ILLINOIS: Mobile phone maker Motorola aims to start rolling out Motophone, its thinnest offering, as it competes with Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone maker.

The strategy is in sync with the slowing growth rate in mobile phone sales in established markets of developed nations where most people own cellphones, analysts said.

Suppliers like Nokia and Motorola are now increasingly turning to emerging markets like India and China. They see immense growth potential in these markets for cell phones.

Motorola had successfully repositioned itself in the cell phone market with its Moto Razr model, which was a whopping success.

Motorola aimed to capture the imagination of a vast army of new mobile phone users with an affordable-sleek model, with the Razr. Motorola’s strategy clicked, forcing rivals including market leader Nokia to come out with sleek models at affordable costs.

The Motophone is the natural progression of this Motorols strategy.

Motorola sees 5 billion cell phone users in the world. Currently, 2 billion people own mobile phones. The firm says the emerging markets will power this growth momentum.

A top Motorola official was recently quoted by the media as saying that the cell phone maker aims to “disrupt the high-growth markets” where Nokia has a clear edge.

Revamping the distribution network in emerging markets would be a priority of Motorola as it embarks to disrupt Nokia’s dream run.

Motorola, the official said, has already bagged an order for 5 lakh units of Motophone from a carrier.

The motophone is 9 millimeter thick, while the Razr is 13.9 mm.
Motophone is the first offering from Motorola’s new slim phone design platform named SCPL, the firm revealed.

Motophone boasts of a local language voice commands and can be viewed clearly even in sunlight glare. The pricing of the GSM phone has not been disclosed by the firm. Eighty per cent of mobiles operate with GSM technology.

But Motorola also plans to roll out a Code Division Multiple Acess (CDMA) version of Motophone in the US and some Asian countries like Japan where CDMA is popular