02/06/2007 10:28:00 AM 
(1) 
(1) Motorola got carried away with the model?s success and continued to launch multiple variants that only served to dilute the model?s iconic status. It naively believed Razr's success was a platform to build from, rather than understanding that now nothing short of constant re-invention now works for this market.
The company is pinning its hopes on the Scpl, which debut in October.
The story highlights how cell phones are fashion objects and that companies operating in this space need to re-organize around the need to produce "hits" on a consistent basis.
New creative skills are required to make these hits happen and new strategies need to be developed to monitor markets for buzz, so they can understand precisely when models loose their "cool value".
Motorola needs to be a company that looks more like fashion retailer Zara, than computing giant HP. It needs to put design in the center, dramatically reduce its time to market, have more seasonal product and to understand how to leverage cultural shifts.
It needs to make these changes because its handset division represents the bulk of its business- 66% of revenue and 67% of profits and the launch of Apple's iPhone, is just around the corner.
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How do you reconcile this with the already massive issue of disposable consumer electronics adding to the mountain of waste in 3rd world landfill? The mobile comms industry needs to find a way to innovate sustainably. Its inbuilt obsoletion strategy has to change. There could be big wins for the brand which cracks this.