RAZR Burned
by John Paczkowski
Posted on November 10, 2008 at 3:08 PM PT
The Motorola (MOT) Razr’s 12-quarter streak as the No. 1-ranked handset in the United States has finally been broken–by Apple, of all companies. According to a survey by NPD, the Razr V3 slipped to second place behind Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 3G in the third quarter, apparently a victim of its own outdated design.
“The displacement of the RAZR by the iPhone 3G represents a watershed shift in handset design from fashion to fashionable functionality,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for NPD. “Four of the five best-selling handsets in the third quarter were optimized for messaging and other advanced Internet features.”
An interesting trend. Especially, since smartphones tend to be quite a bit pricier than their dumbphone counterparts. Indeed, AT&T (T), the iPhone’s exclusive carrier in the U.S., offers the device for $200 with a two-year contract, while it offers Motorola’s RAZR V3xx Platinum for $0.01.
Seems $200 beats free, or essentially free, even in the ugliest of economic times–as long as it’s emblazoned with an Apple logo.
News of Apple’s latest achievement comes just weeks after the company announced it had become the world’s third largest mobile phone supplier in terms of revenue.
Comments
people want email on their phones and a easy touch screen
razr was cool in 2004
same thing with iphone…will it be cool in 2012?
Posted by Sam Harrison at November 10th, 2008 at 3:37 pmApple iPhone is the best phone in the market today. I love the app store and the phone works great. Apple continues to make great products. Of course they should be #1. I just wish there stock would reflect that.
Posted by Quincy Davis at November 11th, 2008 at 6:49 am