Motorola takes Razr to its handset range

Hints as to how it will reinvent the six main mobile phone form factors after the success of its slimline Razr handset have topped a busy week of announcements for Motorola at the 3GSM show in Barcelona.

The Razr handset - buoyed by recent spruce-ups such as a pink version, and a designer D&G version selling for up to €1,000 on eBay - has done well, so much so that during the fourth quarter of last year, it accounted for one in 20 handsets sold in Europe, Motorola Mobile Devices president Ron Garriques told a packed press conference on Tuesday.

When CEO Ed Zander took the helm, there had even been talk of a mobile phone division spin-off but now some are calling it the jewel in the US vendor's crown.

The success of Razr is being felt across all the company's lines, aimed both at consumers and business people. Garriques promised that 2006 will see Razr taken into other form factors.

The company breaks down the six major form factors as clamshell, candy bar, qwerty, slider, PDA and rotator.

A slimline qwerty phone, dubbed 'Q', will ship this year for use on 3G networks, based on the Windows Mobile operating system. It will be available for use on EV-DO networks, with a more European W-CDMA version by Q4 2006, Garriques said.

China, where Motorola has been traditionally strong and a market which is dominated by high-end phones that are pen-based, will see a translucent product that uses Linux and Java.

Meanwhile 'Z' is a slider version of the Razr.

Ben Wood, Gartner mobile devices analyst, warned that - with the exception of Nokia - many other major phone makers are chasing Motorola's slimline designs but said: "The Razr franchise still has legs."

He added: "Motorola have to deliver on making a good thing better. They have two good quarters left in the Razr, after that the slider is interesting but how quickly can they deliver? It is frightening how quickly Samsung are able to bring out similar products."

Motorola's Garriques said an upcoming phone would go by the name SCPL - but declined to show one, or even photos of one, speaking of how such openness could play into the hands of rivals.

Later today Motorola CEO Zander is expected to address the 3GSM show for the second year, speaking about mobiles in the developing world. Namibia's MTC network this week announced a five-year access network deal with Motorola and while the onus last year was on a sub-$25 handset for emerging markets, it now seems major vendors are turning their attention to network infrastructure, with base stations even in some cases drawing on wind or solar power.