Motorola’s Xoom, powered by Google’s Android 3.0 ‘Honeycomb’ OS fine-tuned for tablets, was supposed to be Apple’s worst nightmare and a reawakening for the venerable handset manufacturer. Instead, one Wall Street analyst estimates Motorola Mobility has sold between 25,000 and 120,000 Xooms, recalling Microsoft’s jab at Apple as ‘just a rounding error.’ What’s the solution for Motorola?
Sue ’em. Global Equities analyst Trip Chowdry thinks Motorola Mobility would earn more by suing Google for what he termed the “dead on arrival” Honeycomb tablet software.
In what Fortune describes as a “depressing proposition” but what Chowdry views as a “better strategy,” Motorola should begin “selectively attacking with patents other Android phone OEMs.” That’s right, forget about out-innovating Apple (which the analyst describes as a “competitive fixation” of Motorola’s), sue handset makers for patent-infringement.
On what grounds? The analyst describes the Google app store as “a disaster.” Meanwhile, Honeycomb is variously viewed as “incomplete” and with a “poor UI.”
He divides OEMs into three categories: those he sees suitable for a full intellectual property attack (such as HTC, or Acer), those deserving “selective engagement” (such as Sony Ericsson and Toshiba) and larger targets he sees as “deterrence” (such as Samsung and LG.)
