Moto eyes replacement market for Philippine revenues

Intense competition in the smartphone market as a re­sult of the proliferation of low-cost units, mainly from China prompted Moto, for­merly Motorola, is seeking to change the equation through the offering of high-quality phones within reach of Fili­pino consumers through tie-ups with phone companies.

Moto as in other smart­phone makers are now target­ing the replacement market or consumers who are looking for new units to replace their old mobile phones as the new battleground for profit.

Sales of smartphones have tapered off from high growth of an average of 30 percent to 40 percent to cur­rently around 25 percent a year.

Moto is actually reen­tering the local market since it used to be known as Mo­torola. It is now focusing on the replacement market for healthy sales.

Motorola’s mobile phone arm Mobility was purchased by Lenovo in 2014 after the former American company split into two, Motorola Solu­tions and Motorola Mobility in 2011. Moto handsets were reintroduced to the local mar­ket last October 21.

Telecommunications gi­ants Globe Telecom Inc. and PLDT Inc. are both support­ive of the re-entry of Moto despite the shrinking subsi­dies the telcos provided smart phone suppliers for subscrib­ers to avail of bundled offer­ings.

Telcos bundle their ser­vices to smartphone units through easy payment terms that are included in the monthly billings. Such schemes target the raising of the so-called average reve­nue per users (ARPU) which phone companies mostly get from value-added services through the phone units.

Danny Li, Director of Le­novo Mobile Business Group Philippines AP Sales, said Globe and Smart embrace Moto units as a way “to retain their subscribers and to sup­ply the replacement markets.”

Lenovo currently sell its own brand of mobile phones mainly for the mass mar­ket but it will now focus on premium Lenovo and Moto brands.

Li said Moto brands will target the replacement market for smartphones, which has long been neglected. He said that phone users has not been looking for replacements for their old units because of the absence of “wow factors” in most existing smartphones.

Motorola will be offer­ing handsets and accessories which Li said are “indus­try-first features, and custom­ized” for user experiences.

The smartphone series are the Moto Z and the Moto Mods Family, and the Moto’s flagship series Moto G Family. The Moto E Power will be on offer for starting phone own­ers.

“Moto’s return to the Philippines solidifies Lenovo’s strong business momentum. With Lenovo’s Moto acqui­sition, Lenovo adds a premi­um smartphone portfolio that features top-tier hardware and software innovations such as the Moto Z and a customized experience with Moto Mods,” said Dino Romano, Country Manager, Lenovo MBG.

Romano said Moto com­mands patronage since it was “the brand that practically in­vented mobile telephony.”

He said that Lenovo’s strong presence in the market is projected to be retained as it consistently ranked among the top five in the global rank­ing.

“Lenovo and Moto will co-exist and we will have unique value propositions,” Romano said.

Vincent Dela Cruz, Mar­keting Manager of the Lenovo MBG Philippines, said Moto smartphones captured dou­ble-digit growth while top brands competing in the mar­ket registered only single-digit growth.

He expressed confidence that with the Lenovo and Moto brands, the competition will become healthy noting that at this stage the re-launch of Moto is “to communicate the brand” and not to be fo­cused on “seeking market share.”

The Moto brand is now in the Philippines to add in­novation and technology in the smartphones market, he said.

“Mobile innovation has been stalled in the past years,” Romano said noting that Le­novo will be asking for more new features from our devel­opers.

“A lot of telcos are push­ing for data streaming,” Ro­mano explained citing appli­cations such as Netflix and Spotify.

He said that both Lenovo and Moto would allow fast­er streaming and will enable telcos to be successful on da­ta-driven products.

The Moto smartphones will be available in more than 30 distribution centers. Craft­ed from military aircraft-grade aluminum and stainless steel, Moto Z combines durability with a svelte build and a 5.5- inch high-end display.

Its flagship unit is Moto Z Play Power that is intended for heavy smartphone use with up to 50 hours of battery life and a 16 megapixel (MP) cam­era that offers laser and phase detect autofocus for capturing crystal-clear photos in any light. RIZA LOZADA