Jan 27
The Verizon iPhone isn’t actually due out until February 10th, but Motorola is already feeling the burn. The company experienced a renaissance of sorts recently, thanks in no small part to a a number of Android-based handsets released for Verizon.And now the anticipation of the addition of Apple’s ultra popular handset to carrier has Motorola a bit freaked out.
“Since the announcement of the iPhone, we have seen a little slow down in our sell through of devices at Verizon,” the company’s CEO Sanjay Jha, told investors during a call yesterday. The company shipped 4.9 million smartphones last quarter–down from the 5.2 million analysts were anticipating. Motorola added that it expects to lose $26 million to $62 million in the first quarter of this year.
MThe company is offering smartphones on other US carriers, as well, of course, but many of its fights will continue to be fought on Verizon. “When customers go into the Verizon stores now, they’ll be offered choices,” Jha added. “And time will tell what percentage of sales goes to which brand.”
Doesn’t sound particularly hopeful, does it? Perhaps the Xoom will turn things around a bit…
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