Motorola clings to number one spot in US sales, RIM still rocking

Uh oh, Moto. Go 'head with your bad self. Just days after posting a meager profit (but a profit nonetheless) and maintaining your position in third in worldwide mobile market share, along comes a report claiming that you're still numero uno in the United States. While handset sales overall shot up 5.3% here in Q2, Motorola maintained a 26% share and managed to stare down at least a few naysayers. In related news, LG held tight to the silver with 22%, while RIM gained a double-digit market share increase thanks to sales of its oh-so-hot BlackBerry handset. Number nerds, feel free to tap the read link for even more fractions and decimals.

[Via RCRWireless]

[Thi mam(kris120890) @ Aug 11th 2008 11:21AM]

26% of americans buy bad phones. Hardly a surprise.

[Blayed @ Aug 11th 2008 11:26AM]

Hey, just because you don't like the brand, doesn't mean you have to bash it. If they own 26% of the market share, they must be doing what they do well. I'm tired of all these elitist jerks bitching about other brands, just because they heard from a friend that they suck. Now I don't own a Motorola phone, or any Motorola technology for that matter, so I'm in no way biased towards the company, I'm just sick of people saying successful companies make bad products, as their profits clearly state otherwise.

[hamburglar @ Aug 11th 2008 11:30AM]

Hey Blayed, get your logic and common sense outta here.

[Flashpoint @ Aug 11th 2008 11:40AM]

Motorola has full market penetration with phones of every single category and prices that beging at just $10 for decent prepay phones - that completely blow those lcd-screen-less phones for kidz away.

They've got good phones for every single US carrier. Why shouldn't they be on top?

If they've got any problem its not having new and improved super phones and PDA's/

[Hold McGroin @ Aug 11th 2008 11:41AM]

@Blayed

How about some facts for you, the CDMA RAZR has the highest number of failed phones ever sold in the US. The Moto Q actually took the crown for highest failure rate from the RAZR. Oh, and their phones haven't really changed or gotten better since the RAZR they just look different.

I'm tired of people defending such horrible crap because they don't know anything. You're just another stupid American. When are you going to realize that Americans are not smart and support horrible crap like Motorola phones, American Idol and Hummers? Americans are dumb, don't take anything from "#1 in America" other than, it probably sucks.

[kjb434 @ Aug 11th 2008 11:41AM]

Whether or not you like Motorola handsets, you have to realize they are producing what most customers want.

I would argue that about a third (maybe more) of mobile phone users have not use for text, photo, email, and internet on their phone. I know that might shock some people.

I hear countless times where people complain that all they want is a phone and don't care about all the other stuff. As long as this market exists, Motorola, LG, Samsung, Nokia, etc. will make basic cell phones for the mass market.

Yes, by many Engadet reader's standards these phones will be simple and crappy, but to many it's just what they need.

[eddy @ Aug 11th 2008 11:44AM]

Funny...I'm currently on my third Motorola phone and I love them. Only other cell phone brand I've owned was a Nokia (my first) and that thing was just pure garbage (at least back then). Motorola's never let me down. I'm due for an upgrade in October and - you guessed it - it'll be another Motorola.

[JAG @ Aug 11th 2008 12:03PM]

@Hold McGroin


You lose all credibility with naive blanket statements such as "When are you going to realize that Americans are not smart and support horrible crap like Motorola phones, American Idol and Hummers?". Surely you could cite credibily sources for your argument or at least make an attempt to logically support your point of view rather than trying to pass off cliche platitudes as factual statements.

If you are going to act like a condescending a**hole, the least you could do is do so in a logical and eloquent manner.

[Blayed @ Aug 11th 2008 12:09PM]

@ Hold McGroin

"You're just another stupid American."

I live in Canada! :D

[Blayed @ Aug 11th 2008 12:13PM]

Also @ Hold McGroin

"...the CDMA RAZR has the highest number of failed phones ever sold in the US."

Guess what the target market of the RAZR is. 14-18 year old teens. Of course it has a high failure rate, have you ever seen how many teens treat their phones? It's a wonder that so many of them still work!

[tekdroid @ Aug 11th 2008 12:16PM]

Hold McGroin,
Care to name your sources re: failure rates?

[Ian @ Aug 11th 2008 12:22PM]

Hold McGroin:

So Americans are stupid for making blanket statements about products, but you're not stupid for making blanket statements about people? There's just as many stupid people per capita where you're from, like it or not.

[dale_nx26 @ Aug 11th 2008 12:46PM]

hey, i like my moto phone. in fact, both my parents have moto and they couldn't be happier (well, they can). there's nothing wrong with them, all work perfectly fine. I blame myself for dropping my phone so many times tho and it still works. moto phones in general are sleek. i don't know why people claim that their phones don't change/improve when other competitors offer the same deal. ok honestly, the OS of moto phones hasn't changed but on the looks apartment, you can tell the difference between new ones and old. plus most people don't need all features crammed into one phone. the only people conscious of the specs are the tech geeks. you'd be surprised how many people are not tech-savvy (like most of the population). plus moto phones has a wide price range that maintains their sleekness (unlocked). i was surprised to hear a while back that moto's phone division was goin down the drain when i c a bunch of people use them--and like them. i hope they remain prosperous.

[Metkis @ Aug 11th 2008 12:53PM]

@Hold McGroin: It isn't like they have more than two phone models or anything *rolls eyes*. That's okay, you just continue hating people you classify as Americans based on their choice to disagree with you. I mean, that's not dense.

No one apparently gave you the invoice suggesting other countries or nationalities might contain pricks or assholes. How about you tell me which country you're from so I can steer clear from it and judge everyone there based on your actions, simply because you represent it so well with your ignorance?

Or are you from America and just feel like being a hypocrite?

Quite frankly I wouldn't be surprised either way.

[Derek @ Aug 11th 2008 12:57PM]

@Hold McGroin

Wow, with a user name like that, you must have your facts straight!

First off, the whole "Americans this, Americans that", and then following it with anything related to stupidity, is just pure comedy gold. It basically shows your ignorance, because I am sure you are referring to people in the United States, which is PART of America, but the way you say it basically means you are talking about everyone of the continent of America, so Canada, Mexico, Brazil, etc.

If you are going to call someone stupid, at least have the brain cells to use descriptive wording and try not to make yourself look like a complete tool.

Also, again showing your ignorance, you bring up Hummer sales, about the worst selling vehicle in the United States that is being discontinued due to poor sales, and never had that much market penetration anyway. Its not like we are all driving them, dumbass.

As for Motorola, I had a Q, and it was far from perfect, and was discontinued due to reliability concerns (at least with Sprint), thats how I got my HTC Mogul for free.

But the RAZR? It may not have been perfect, but the people I know that had/have one, had it for over three years at least without issue. Any phone that sells that much is bound to show up like a problem child if it has even a 1% failure rate, because 1% of, say, 10 million people, is still a lot of complaints.

In summary, you are worthless, can't backup any of your thoughts, and should be banned from these here tubes we call the intertron.

[Chad @ Aug 11th 2008 1:13PM]

@Blayed

"You're just another stupid American."

"I live in Canada! :D"

While I doubt there are many (if any) Canadians who call themselves Americans they (and you) are in fact Americans (North Americans to be precise). In fact whether you live in Canada, USA, Mexico, Panama, or Brazil you (and me) are all technically Americans.

This doesn't of course doesn't excuse McGroin's overly broad statement which I needn't address due to its obviously juvenile nature.

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Aug 11th 2008 1:42PM]

Blayed,

You've never used a Motorola phone? No wonder you defend them.

[Blayed @ Aug 11th 2008 2:32PM]

@ UnixSystemsEngineer

I'm not defending Motorola specifically, I'm simply saying that if a company has a majority of the market share, it's doing something right.

[tyler @ Aug 11th 2008 11:30AM]

That logo makes me think of oooooh Chinpokomon

[chefgon_ign @ Aug 11th 2008 11:37AM]

The crappyness of the photoshopping on this logo is giving me a headache. Was this somebody's first time ever using photo editing program? They should have stuck with Windows Paint.

[Lifelion @ Aug 11th 2008 11:47AM]

+1

[TS @ Aug 11th 2008 12:04PM]

[b]"They should have stuck with Windows Paint."[/b]

I'm pretty sure that IS MS Paint.

[tekdroid @ Aug 11th 2008 12:18PM]

with all due respect, I think the whole point behind it is to look obviously 'added-on' rather than go for the clean, corporate 'this is the motorola logo and I'm a leet photoshoppist' look.

[Mark @ Aug 11th 2008 11:20PM]

@TS
No, that is in fact Photoshop or GIMP or somesuch: you don't get the nice smooth gradient from black to white with all the shades in between when using Paint, you just get black then right away white. Although, I'm pretty sure the roughness was done on purpose, as stated above.

[Jeff @ Aug 11th 2008 11:48AM]

The phone you usually see that's free with 2 year contract is a Motorola.

[Metkis @ Aug 11th 2008 12:00PM]

Finally found a reason to use the Happymoto!?

Oh.
My.
Gawd.

[Truth @ Aug 11th 2008 12:03PM]

/me

[Truth @ Aug 11th 2008 12:06PM]

^engadget's comment system messing up again

I love Motorola phones. I am really hoping Motorola can pull through this rough stretch. They have made many of the iconic phones that define cellular usage in America including the StarTac, V60, RAZR, and many others. I have always loved using their phones. They have distinctive style that I love. They are usable and they just work great for me. (I've been using GSM)

LG and Samsung are utter garbage. I despise everything about them (style, interface, everything). Asian pieces of crap...
Apple, Nokia, & Sony have had some great phones though...

[wow @ Aug 11th 2008 12:13PM]

@ Thi mam(kris120890)
@ Hold McGroin
Your brains have failed you. Even for the internet, your immaturity and sheer stupidity amaze me.

[Quix @ Aug 11th 2008 12:56PM]

Profitable business (& great products) > market share. Dell learned this the hard way. Now it's Motorola's turn.

Motorola has a tough road ahead.

[Chris Aubeck @ Aug 11th 2008 1:10PM]

Where's my S9-HD?

"The MOTOROLA S9-HD is expected to be available Q2 of 2008."

[npChaos @ Aug 11th 2008 9:07PM]

It got pushed back a quarter, no biggie.

[giantenemycrab @ Aug 11th 2008 1:21PM]

If they are still doing so well, why is Moto considering getting out of the cell phone business?

[Rich @ Aug 11th 2008 1:29PM]

The North American market is seriously f*cked up. I blame the government and carriers.

[Paul Fehr @ Aug 11th 2008 1:35PM]

At picture:

Why so serious?

[mxgoldman89 @ Aug 11th 2008 1:41PM]

I've experimented with many GSM phones over the past years. I started out with a RIZR Z3 from T-Mobile (nice try moto.), then switched to a RAZR V3i (good phone, lacked the features I wanted), so I bought a Samsung t809 and wanted to throw it against the wall. I then bought a Blue KRZR and loved it. I renewed my contract with AT&T and got a RIZR Z9 and LOVE IT! GO MOTO!

[RedGhost @ Aug 11th 2008 1:53PM]

Go RIM. Market share from 4.8% to 10.6%! Wow that's impressive. The article highlights the reasons why the iPhone will have some troubles taking over RIM market share:
"RIM’s success factors included multiple SKUs at multiple carriers and a successful push into the consumer handset space, especially with its Curve model at Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp., the analyst said." This is something that Apple simply cannot compete against, at least until well after 2010 when AT&T exclusivity ends. Multiple carriers. And it will be quite a while before Apple differentiates between different SKUs other than memory.

[CraigJ @ Aug 11th 2008 2:00PM]

Moto phones are fine. It's the software that sucks...