10 Things Motorola Must Do to Make Its Latest Smartphones a Hit

by Don Reisinger

The most important thing Lenovo can do with its new flagship handsets is ensure that they come with Motorola branding. While Lenovo may be a household name in the enterprise, it’s less so in the consumer space. Motorola still has a respected brand in the mobile world, making it more meaningful for Lenovo to opt for Motorola branding on its devices rather than its own.

All of the reports surrounding Motorola’s handsets suggest that the company will offer Verizon exclusivity on the products. That’s a bad idea. For smartphones to be successful today, they need to be offered by as many carriers as possible. Apple has proved that, and so has Samsung.

Android 5.1 is rumored to be coming to the devices. That’s a good thing. The last thing Motorola would want to do is deliver a product that’s running on an outdated operating system. Having the latest Android OS—Lollipop—or even the rumored Android M running on the devices could be a boon for the company.

Apple has enjoyed widespread success with its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and analysts have said that a key component of that success has been the large screens. If Motorola is offering three different smartphones, it’d be great to see the company offer one with a 4-inch screen for budget-conscious customers, another with a 4.7-inch screen for the midrange and at 5-inch-or-larger display in the flagship model. Customers will like the big screens, if Apple’s success is any guide.

According to rumors, Motorola is considering bundling a quad-HD display in the new line of devices. That’s a smart move. Since there are products on the market that come with quad-HD resolutions, anything that would boast a 1080p screen would be laughed at by customers seeking a high-end product. Motorola needs to make a statement with its smartphones, and offering at least one version that has quad-HD would accomplish that goal.

To their credit, Samsung and LG have done a fine job of delivering high-quality designs in their latest flagships. The Samsung Galaxy S6 comes with an all-metal design, while the LG G4 has a nice leather back plate. Motorola cannot offer a high-end smartphone encased entirely in plastic and expect to be successful. The company needs to spend some extra cash on higher-end materials to get its handset to stand out in the marketplace.

All of this talk about Motorola’s flagship smartphone centers on the idea that the company would deliver a high-end experience. That said, Motorola doesn’t have the brand cachet that Apple enjoys to charge too much for its smartphone. So the company needs to be somewhat conservative with its pricing and keep its flagship on-contract price to $200 to $300 at most. Anything above that is too much.

One of the biggest issues with Motorola and other second-tier Android vendors is that they have a difficult time getting attention when they announce new products. That said, Google I/O is coming up in just a couple of weeks, and that event will get all kinds of attention. Motorola should try to get a spot during the Google keynote address to unveil its products. Such a move would give Motorola much-needed attention to announce its new handsets.

All of the talk surrounding the rumored Motorola smartphones suggests that the company is focused on the U.S. with its launch. That could be a problem. Recent history has shown that the most popular smartphones have had global launches to maximize their market appeal. Only offering the Motorola handset in the U.S. at launch would be a huge mistake.

Bundling high-end components in a flagship handset is an absolute necessity. Customers who are looking to buy a top-tier smartphone want the best battery life, strong security features like a fingerprint sensor and much more. If customers are to pay hundreds of dollars for a new handset, Motorola cannot make it feel like a toy. The handset must have the best Snapdragon processor, a high-end GPU and ample storage. Without such features, Motorola’s won’t sell briskly, especially in the U.S. market.