“Asked, at the OPA Forum for the Future conference in London, what the company thinks of the Apple iPhone, Motorola European marketing director Simon Thompson huffed: ‘We thought it looked very pretty and white. iPhone, iPhone, iPhone! I’m just bored of this darned question. Look, there will be a billion phones sold next year – on a good year, there will be 10 million iPhones,'” Robert Andrews reports for MocoNews.
Andrews reports that Thompson further stated, “More and more consumers are after a more multimedia experience – that’s the basic reality. There are a billion phones sold every year; there are 150 million PCs; the PC tendency is not upwards, the phone tendency is upwards. New, developing markets will expect the power of a PC in their hands very soon – in a ‘phone’, not a ‘device.'”
Full article here.
Not only does the impending roadkill not know even the color of the steamroller bearing down on it, it also doesn’t understand that what it just described as desired by more and more consumers is “iPhone, iPhone, iPhone!” Looks like some of these bozos won’t even know what hit them.
Simon Thompson, and others like him, really should sit down, take a deep breath, relax, and ask themselves, “Is it really smart to come off as ignorant and unprepared in order to project a confidence that lacks basis in reality?”
Obviously, Motorola et al. do not have time to get out of the way, but do their executives really want to look like they were deer caught in the headlights after the bloody fact? We’d respect them if they just admitted the truth for once: their products are highly-confusing messes and they’re embarrassed after seeing Apple’s iPhone. Of course, we’ll never get that level of truth, but this “very pretty and white” stuff is exactly the wrong way to go; Thompson’s sprinting toward Apple’s oncoming grill!
What do we predict for Motorola? In the immortal word of Mr. T: “Pain.”
Related articles:
Jefferies downgrades Motorola on fears of market share loss to Apple iPhone – January 10, 2007
Motorola warns investors of ‘rocky’ road ahead – February 21, 2007
Intel CEO Otellini praises Apple iPhone, OS X; says Windows can’t cut it in mobile space – March 06, 2007
Which company is most at risk from Apple’s looming iPhone onslaught? – March 04, 2007
Why Apple’s iPhone is a radical, disruptive product – March 01, 2007
Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple ‘buy’ – says market is underestimating iPhone demand – March 01, 2007
Apple’s 10 million iPhone sales target for 2008 would surpass most other smart phone sales – March 01, 2007
Apple preps 3G iPhone model for Europe – February 25, 2007
The once-mighty Palm Inc. doomed to decline and failure – thanks to Apple’s iPhone – February 23, 2007
Palm CEO can’t stop talking about Apple iPhone – February 19, 2007
Microsoft caught off-guard, beaten badly by Apple’s iPhone innovations – February 13, 2007
Palm CEO: ‘We don’t want to follow design fads’; Nokia CEO challenges Apple over iPhone – February 13, 2007
RIM co-CEO doesn’t see threat from Apple’s iPhone – February 12, 2007
Apple’s soon-to-be iPhone rivals sound just like iPod rivals circa 2001 – February 01, 2007
How Verizon blew the Apple iPhone deal – January 29, 2007
O2, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile battle for exclusive rights to Apple iPhone in UK – January 26, 2007
Research in Motion downgraded due to Apple iPhone competition – January 23, 2007
Ihnatko: Hands-on with Apple’s iPhone (which runs Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard) – January 18, 2007
Microsoft CEO Ballmer laughs at Apple iPhone – January 17, 2007
RealMoney: Apple just blew up the whole damn mobile-phone supply chain with its new iPhone – January 11, 2007
eWeek: Apple iPhone fallout: ‘They must be crying in Nokia-ville and other telephony towns today’ – January 10, 2007
The massive FUD campaign against Apple’s iPhone ramps up – January 10, 2007
Time: ‘iPhone could crush cell phone market pitilessly beneath the weight of its own superiority’ – January 09, 2007
Analyst: Apple iPhone should be given its own category – ‘brilliantphone’ – January 09, 2007
Apple debuts iPhone: touchscreen mobile phone + widescreen iPod + Internet communicator – January 09, 2007
Apple ‘iPhone’ could cause Nokia, Palm, Motorola, and RIM to really start to sweat – December 07, 2006
Mr T.: I pity da foo’!
Motorola sucks – plain and simple. Their phones suck. Their chips suck. Time to move over Motorola. Your days of being a great company that could create quality CB radios are over. Move the F out of the way, losers.
Hubris.
Get used to it Simon. When the Moto shareholders
start asking what your answer to the iPhone is,
you better not say that you are tired of talking
about it.
that’s a big 10-4, dd.
White/Black(on the front) same thing.
“iPhone, iPhone, iPhone!”
translation:
“iMphucked, iMphucked, iMphucked!”
Yeeeeeap!! I shore miss dem Modoroley ceebees!
i live in the tiny baltic country of lithuania. even here, at the periphery of the EU, macs are getting more and more popular, ipod commercials are being played more often (and have become a must – have item), and there is a big buzz around the iphone. people are very interested, and will buy them…
Isn’t the iPhone black, not white?
Reporter: “What’s your prediction for the fight?”
Clubber Lang: “Pain!”
LOL nice take!
Yeah, I though it was pretty and silver/black.
Maybe he was thinking of the Cisco iPhone! In that case, he’s right, it’s not much of a threat. ;P
-c
Nothing like having an executive not see that he’s just been tossed a baited question and allows himself to get all riled up and going and then give the competition exactly what they want – some MORE free publicity… classic.
Simon Thompson says, “…in a ‘phone’, not a ‘device.'”
Not only is MDN spot-on, but Thompson is exactly 180 degrees out of phase with reality. I’ve said it before and will stick by it, and that is, what the public really wants (and has already given up trying to get prior to the iPhone) is NOT another phone, but indeed a device. Wake up idiots! That’s what the iPhone is exactly, its a handheld computing device [a real one] that has cellular capabilities, not the other way around. This is exactly why the iPhone is going to be released, all ten millioin WILL BE SOLD by summer’s end, and then Apple will be getting all kinds of bad press because they won’t be able to supply the demand for this “device”.
Do we need to draw pictures, ok then lets review: The ONLY thing bad that will happen to Apple will be determined by how badly they’ve underestimated the demand for the iPhone, uh…device. Because cellular providers have this type of technology by the proverbial balls Apple was constrained to do at least two things: 1) They had to pick a cellular provider in order to get the telephony part of the device to function properly for the end user; 2) Because they had to sell their soul to the service provider they had to call it a “phone”.
As usual, Apple gets this and no one else does. But those of you holding Apple shares right now are going to be laughing all the way to the bank by summer’s end, and the rest of us will never see Apple’s shares drop below $100 again.
Bye bye Motorolo, bye bye Samsung, LG, and etc. and etc. It must be truely terrifying to be staring your own death right in the eyes, know that no matter what you do from this point on, you’ve just lost an entire market where you can only hope to be one of one or two distantly trailing competitors, at best.
if these comments were posted on here 6 years ago, anyone who dared to speak out against the great motorolla would be flamed. It’s one thing to think Macs are better than PCs (I totally agree); it’s completely another to think YOU are better than others because YOU use a Mac and they use a PC.
The majority of folks here fall in the last category. They give Mac users a bad name and others look at all of us like elitist, narcissistic, a-holes.
It’s like a player you love goes to play for another team and all of a sudden you burn their jersey.
“Much ado about nothing.”
THe iPhone, will be big, but it’s gonna take awhile.
E-phlabber ma kerjigger mcfigger! CHAIR!
How soo-
It could be for fun, too.
Who wants to bet on how long the Apple online store goes down, from to much traffic, the day they start taking orders for the iPhone,
how soon we forget: Bingo.
I read this forum for precisely this kind of amusement. I don’t have to defend my Apple purchasing/using credentials. I would never buy any other brand of computer. But as an Apple enthusiast, I am embarrassed that this article is even acknowledged, let alone the pimply-faced, teenaged cheerleader comments from MDN…
I was roundly blasted for refusing to believe the nonsense of “Home Stereo Reinvented.” While I know dozens of iPod owners, I know of no one who purchased that overpriced piece of hyped-up crap (the iPod Hi-Fi). Despite MDN’s orgasmic proclamations, that silly overreach of a product remains an absolute FLOP. Steve Jobs’ special event and personal presentation couldn’t distort that reality.
Apple is a company. They make some nice things. But they also make some glaring missteps. In the long run, the iPhone will be remembered less for its “phone” and more for its interface. Good luck to all the early adopters who spend $400+ for the “phone.” Personally, I’ll wait until the interface technology makes its inevitable appearance in something USEFUL (and reasonably priced).
Marsha, Marsha, Marsha….!!!!!@#$@$#$%$#%^$%^&
While I’m pretty sure the iPhone will be a successful product, it’s *not* going to replace all the phones out there. There’s a limited market for a phone/device/whatever that costs $500. I know plenty of people who scoff at the idea of paying $100 for a phone, and there’s no chance that the iPhone is going to sell to them. The vast majority of phones out there are just that- phones. People buy them because they want to be to make and receive calls when away from home or work.
The iPhone may end up dominating the high-end market, but that’s just a portion of the market. Any players in the low to mid range will likely not be very impacted by the iPhone, though hopefully, they’ll work on improving their interfaces.
Until Apple releases something under $200, they simply havr no chance to dominate the entire mobile phone industry.
It’s almost amusing to see all the dire predictions folks are making for Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, etc. The iPhone just isn’t going to have that big of an impact on them. At least not for a decent amount of time.
ExMotoi scoff at paying $100 for a phone as well. because all of them out there now are terribly designed (in all respects/UI not being the least of which). but again i scoff at paying $499 for a pc as well. because even though that is cheap, its still $499 over priced! hence why i use macs, and will get an iphone. you pay for what you get.
I just love these sanctimonious people from “the land of perfect”, lecturing the rest of us on what “elitist, narcissistic, a-holes” we have all been deemed to be.
Attention, all superior people (that’s you, “how soon we forget”):
As a Mac user I have had all sorts of attitude and mythology thrown at me from PC idiots for years now, including from family. I have seen the likes of MS get away with all sorts of illegal practices and get by with it – and the worst of their existence is the fact that they have stifled innovation for their own greedy ends.
I therefore consider that whether they know it or not, all willing PC users are chiefly to blame for this. If not for Steve Jobs, Apple would already have been gone by now, and the rest of us would have to be using a cursed PC if we wanted to use a computer at all.
I am therefore unabashedly a Mac user, and will not pretend I do not think I have made a better decision, but also a more moral one. And I will also not be pretend that I don’t detest the kind of ignorance that has allowed MS to make out like a bandit. I have had a lot of fun watching Apple come back in these last 5 years, and make all of the doomsayers and MS fanboys in the press eat their stupid words. “Beleagured” indeed. I’ve also had a lot of fun watching PC users and their pain and frustration of all that has become of Windows. I believe they deserve every bit of it. Just rewards, and all that. “Oh what, you lost your entire hard drive because of a virus. What a shame. My heart bleeds……NOT!”
So, get over yourself and your moral preening, you sanctimonious loser. You’re not judge, jury, and prosecutor. Your just desperate for a way to feel above the fray. But you’re not above the fray. You’re below it!