Motofone debuts in Sri Lanka

It is true, Motorola is a phone that can be thrown around the room any number of times. To prove his point, Motorola, Inc. , Emerging Markets Managing Director Robert Gagnon throws his mobile phone across the room. Promoting the company’s brand, Motofone, he told The Sunday Times FT that Motorola discovered that Sri Lankan consumers are brand and style conscious.

“The Sri Lanka consumers’ sophistication levels are very high,” he said, adding that Motofone is set to redefine the mobile phone market place and strengthen Motorola’s drive to connect the next billion mobile phone users. “The biggest challenge for the company at present is to connect the unconnected,” he explained.

The company will start an aggressive marketing campaign this year to popularise the phones. “We will be tying up with different media and also with cricket to create awareness,” Gagnon said. He said that the company’s market share in the country was low two years ago, but it has grown by more than ten times since then. “We want to introduce the most innovative, sexy and attractive products to gain more market share in the country,” he added.

He also said the company experienced nothing but growth in Sri Lanka and Motorola would be opening an office in the country within the next few months. “With the low penetration level in mobile phones, there is always high opportunity,” he added. Motofone is the first of a new breed of handsets designed to disrupt today’s communications landscape by cutting across price tiers, product segments and international markets. “As Motorola’s thinnest phone yet, measuring in at approximately 9mm, Motofone will provide consumers with a value-priced handset with an extensive core feature set, while appealing to more sophisticated design tastes,” he explained.

“Additionally, the display is plastic, lightweight and ultra-low power, making it ideal for mobile and power sensitive applications by eliminating the weight and breakability of glass used in LCD displays,” he added.