Motorola’s new line of Razr handsets is
slimmer than ever, and the company hopes the they will expand
the customer base of its already popular line of cell phones.
The 42-millimeter-wide Krzr (pronounced “crazer”) shaves
more than a centimeter off the original Razr, of which Motorola sold more than 50 million units.
Beyond its slimmer size, the Krzr will offer both GSM and CDMA versions, the latter of which includes high-speed EV-DO capabilities.
Featuring a faceplate made of magnesium, chrome and hardened glass, the Krzr also comes with a two mega-pixel camera, stereo Bluetooth
audio and updated phone directory and messaging applications.
 |
Motorola’s first slider — the Rizr. Source: Motorola |
Another new handset, the Rizr, is Motorola’s first
“slider” phone, allowing the user to slide a hidden keypad down for
dialing.
A Motorola spokesperson said the company decided to manufacture the slider phone because it wants to compete in all form factors.
The ability to slide open the phone enables Rizr users to take
landscape-oriented photos using the handset’s two-megapixel camera.
The Schaumburg, Ill., company also announced two 3G Razrs, the
Razr xx and Razr Maxx.
The phones, permitting high-speed music
downloads and video calls, will use High-Speed Downlink Packet Access
(HSDPA) to deliver data speeds up to 3.6MB per second, according to
the statement.
Motorola also announced the Slvr L7c with EV-DO CDMA connectivity and integrated sGPS location technology.
Motorola currently is second to Finland’s Nokia in
handset sales, but leads South Korea’s Samsung Electronics.
The phones, available globally by the end of the year, hope to
attract style-conscious consumers, including women, where the smaller
size could be important, according to the spokesperson.
While Motorola refused to say where the phones would first launch,
financial analyst firm Cowen & Company believes the Krzr likely is
first headed to China Mobile and other Asian customers.
According to Dave Chamberlain, an analyst with In-Stat, Motorola is now the leader in designing phones.
“The Razr has been very useful in
improving their fortunes.” However, “there is a danger in too much success,” he said.
Motorola
must continue introducing new products, rather than tweaking the
Razr, according to the analyst.
In May, the company unveiled the Q, a smartphone cast in the Razr image but
positioned to compete with the Palm Treo and RIM BlackBerry.
Monday Motorola announced it will repurchase approximately $1.2
billion of its own shares, completing a $4 billion share repurchase
program it started in May.
Motorola also said it will repurchase $4.5 billion worth of
additional outstanding company shares of common stock, representing around 9 percent of
its market capitalization, according to a statement.
“We believe that at current price levels, Motorola shares are an
attractive investment and our recent repurchases highlight our
continuing confidence in Motorola’s long-term growth,” David
Devonshire, Motorola’s CFO, said in a statement.