>the mobile handset business is not hit-driven

False, James. Nokia N95 - has RAZR form factor, the latest Samsung F490 is the same 53 mm wide. It’s the optimal ergonomics for one-hand operations and maximum screen area together - the Golden Section for the industry.

These two phones are the reality of the Cell PC (53x103 mm) - the Samsung’s display is the main display, the Nokia’s display is the second display. It’s a ubiquitous form factor.

There’s a distinct lack of iPhone reference there… hasn’t it kinda shaken up the accepted business model a little?

Sprint is a good example of what happens when you don’t have a “hit phone” to make availabe.  They passed on the RAZR when it first came out and only picked it up about two years after the excitement had died down.  Their next move was to drop out of the competition for the iPhone, saying that they had comparable phones.  Really?  We’re still waiting, even as Verizon introduces the Voyager with the touch screen and the full keypad and the...well, everything else Sprint subscribers wish they had.

Motorola is the winner of the 1st Annual Wave Award for Favorite Handset Manufacturer, as voted by the public.  Even without a big hit on their hands and stiff competition from Nokia and others, the public selected Motorola.  Check all of the results at http://www.TheWaveAwards.com.

Totally agree with Kip Hartman. Besides all the merger issues that have been covered and debated ad nauseam, Spint’s handset group bears much blame for the carrier’s dismal performance.

Even Alltel got a Razr before they did! Simply embarrassing. I wonder how the people in charge of handsets are still there.  Long live Sprint bureaucracy.

MR

Michael Molin: I’m not sure what your point is. Yes, a lot of phones have a similar form factor, but “a lot” of phones have the form factor but other differences, is my point.

IPhone: The iPhone hasn’t shaken up the business model—although Apple’s success at getting revenue share from carriers will definitely shake up the business model IF other manufacturers succeed in signing different deals. The iPhone is a “hit phone” for Apple because it’s a new entrant, and it would be a good business for any manufacturer, but it wouldn’t revive Apple’s fortunes. Even if you assumed Apple had sold its goal of 10 million iPhone, that’s less than 0.9 percent of the global marketplace for handsets (where Motorola competes). In the first quarter of last year Motorola had a marketshare of 18.5 percent, in the fourth quarter it had dropped to 12.4 percent. An iPhone-level hit would not have made that much of a difference to its fortunes. So irrespective of awards, sales figures show that the public is voting for other handset manufacturers over Motorola in the only vote that counts.