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MUMBAI: Motorola was the first company to introduce truly portable cellular phone, also known as first generation mobile phones or 1G. A couple of generations later -- or by the time cellular telephony matured into the third generation (3G) -- Motorola had been beaten in the game, fair and square, by a former pulp manufacturing company based in Nokia, Finland (incidentally named after the city as well). 
Motorola has been accused of being too 'smug' and low on the innovation quotient. But, that seems to be changing now. The company has been introducing a slew of gadgetry phones under the 'Moto' brand name, and has been slowly and steadily increasing its market share. Motorola is also diversifying into a host of related services and industries.
Motorola has garnered 12 percent of the Indian mobile handset market share, but Firdose Vandrevala, chairman, Motorola India, counsels prudence.
“The river Hooghly in West Bengal is four feet deep on average, but I would not advise you to try and cross the river on foot. At times numbers can be deceptive,” he quips.
Shashwat Chaturvedi from CyberMedia News caught up with Firdose at the on-going MOTO4YOU event in Mumbai, where he spoke about the company's outlook in the future among other things. Excerpts.
CyberMedia News: What is the purpose of MOTO4YOU event?
Vandrevala: The purpose of this event is to demonstrate our vision, roadmap and capabilities to customers. I believe customers are not really aware of the vast range of Motorola products, solutions and technologies, and this is the ideal place to showcase them. The idea is to display these products and technologies and get feedback from our customers, so that we can partner with them on further development in the future.
CyberMedia News: One of the most talked about point at the MOTO4YOU show has been seamless mobility (the ability to communicate, entertain, etc. from one network to another, from one device to another), but is it really achievable in India?
Vandrevala: Seamless mobility is a vision, a way all the different technologies will converge. It cannot be achieved at one go; it will be done in small steps. Some work on that front has been done in the European markets. It is will indeed appear in India in the coming years, but there needs a lot to be done on that front. As I mentioned earlier, it is an over-arching vision.
CyberMedia News: What are company's plans for India?
Vandrevala: India is very strategic for Motorola from two perspectives: as a development hub and as a market. On the product development front, India has already achieved the halo status, close to 40 percent of software for cellular phones is being developed in India. In the coming year we intend to shore up our team by another 1000 members. We are also raising our investment in India.
As a market, the importance cannot be overstated. It is the fastest growing mobile market, and we want to make the most out of it. Though, Motorola does not have a big chunk of the handset market, but that will change. We are launching a host of mobile handsets at different price points to gain greater market share. Apart from that we are closely working with different companies for our enterprise solutions, we are a leader in that space. We are also working with different government agencies for our trunking solutions. Motorola is the only company that provides such diverse range of end-to-end services and solutions.
CyberMedia News: Products to be launched in the coming months...
Vandrevala: There are a range of mobile handsets both CDMA (code division multiple access), GSM (global system for mobile communications) handsets to be launched. We will also be launching our DECT cordless phones in India; these phones employ advanced technology thereby resulting in higher clarity and more security. Some of the other products are the Bluetooth enabled devices like the Motorola Car kit, etc.
CyberMedia News: Latest update on IPTV front?
Vandrevala: I would like to clarify one thing. It has been reported in the media that we have stuck a deal with Reliance. But, we are in advanced talks with Reliance; nothing has been finalized as yet. We hope to make an announcement on that space soon.
CyberMedia News: There have been reports that Moto Razr phones in the U.S. have been recalled due to a small fault, any such problems for Indian users?
Vandrevala: Certainly not. There was a very minor issue with a few phones and it has been promptly rectified. Everyone company has these minor hiccups so there is no need to worry.
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