Motorola's Jha sees benefit from Verizon-Android deal
Motorola Inc. co-Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Jha said Verizon Wireless's plan to introduce phones with Google Inc.'s Android operating system will boost demand for the software, benefiting Motorola's Android efforts.
"We have embraced the Android ecosystem really strongly, and we really like the notion of extending that Android ecosystem to as many carriers and global regions as we possibly can," Jha said yesterday in an interview in San Diego. "We see the relationship between Verizon and Google as being positive."
Jha is rebuilding his unprofitable mobile-phone unit around Android. Schaumburg-based Motorola aims to use Android models to challenge Apple Inc.'s iPhone 3G and Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry Curve -- the top-selling smart phones in the second quarter, according to research firm NPD Group Inc. Verizon, the biggest U.S. wireless carrier, said yesterday it would work with Google on Android, without saying who would make the devices.
Motorola's first Android phone, the Cliq, will go on sale next month through T-Mobile USA Inc., the fourth-biggest U.S. carrier. Verizon will offer Motorola's second Android device, a person familiar with the operating system said last month.
Jha, 46, declined to confirm whether Verizon would carry the second phone. Basking Ridge, New Jersey-based Verizon Wireless plans to offer two Android phones this year.
"We're working with Verizon and we are obviously aware of their relationship with Google, and in 2010 there's no doubt that we'll deliver some products on their network with Android platforms," he said.
Motorola aims to revive growth by recapturing the success it had with the Razr phone five years ago. Revenue at the mobile-phone business, run by Jha, dropped 45 percent to $1.8 billion in the second quarter. The rest of the company is managed by co-CEO Greg Brown.
Android handsets will account for 30 percent of the devices that Motorola sells in 2010, making up more than half of handset revenue, predicted Matt Thornton, an analyst at Avian Securities LLC in Boston. He has a "positive" rating on Motorola.
Motorola expects to deliver its second Android phone in time for the holiday season, said Jha, who joined Motorola from Qualcomm Inc. in August 2008. The company plans to release at least a dozen more Android devices starting next year, he said.
The Cliq uses a customized version of Android known as Motoblur. It can synchronize users' addresses and contacts from Web sites such as Facebook Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Twitter Inc., allowing all their messages to be gathered in one place.
The Cliq will go on sale Nov. 2, Motorola said last week. It costs about $200 with a two-year contract.
Motorola rose 12 cents to $8.61 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has almost doubled this year.
Google, based in Mountain View, California, designed Android to be an open-source operating system. That means it's free to use and developers can customize it to meet their needs.