Google CFO: Motorola Phones Have No ‘Wow’ Factor


Google CFO and Senior VP Patrick Pichette spoke at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference this week and admitted that Motorola smartphones are lacking the “wow factor” found on devices from other manufacturers.

According to Pichette, Google plans to have Motorola up to its design standards within five months. Pichette says Google during the acquisition of Motorola Mobility realized there was already an 18-month product pipeline in place. Google has not been able to influence Motorola’s legacy devices in the pipeline much, which explains why they are still behind the times.

According to the Google CFO:

“We’ve inherited 18 months of pipeline that we actually have to drain right now, while we’re actually building the next wave of innovation and product lines.”

At this time, Google does not believe that Motorola smartphones feature anything that is “wow — innovative, transformative.”

Pichette further notes that going through such a transition on a massive scale is not an easy process. The company is dealing with thousands of employees while trying to infiltrate a culture that was built-up over decades.

Google has been careful to play down its Motorola acquisition. When the merger was first announced, many Google Android partners were worried that Google would favor Motorola over other Android manufacturers. However, since the acquisition, not a single Motorola smartphone has rolled out under the Google Nexus brand. Instead, Google has allowed LG, HTC, and Samsung to create its line of Google branded devices.

It should be noted that, during the merger request, Google promised to keep the Android OS open and free for at least five years and ensure fair competition among its already established partners.

At this time, it is believed that the Motorola X phone will be the first “Google-inspired” smartphone to be manufactured through the new partnership. The X-phone is believed to include Google service integration that has never been used on other phones.

In the meantime, Google continues to push the boundaries of modern technology. The company is moving full-speed ahead with its Google Glass project, has developed a very capable autonomous vehicle, and is constantly working to develop new cloud-based platforms with little to no charges for customers.

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