Motorola has now claimed that it is the fastest-growing OEM in the North America region. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it is leading in sales or even in device shipments. However, the Lenovo-owned smartphone manufacturer has seen a 50-percent expansion in terms of distribution and 100-percent growth in terms of year-over-year activations. What’s more, based on a slide shown by the company during its August 2 press event and shared via Twitter by user Julian Chokkattu, it is also the number one brand for unlocked mobile devices. The news flies directly in opposition to reports from earlier this year which indicated that Motorola Mobility may have been enacting a large number of layoffs at its Chicago headquarters. It’s also a big turnaround from the company’s underperforming results for the final three quarters of 2017. If the company can hold onto its momentum, 2018’s fiscal reports for 2018 should show a much stronger position in the Android market.
The company also took advantage of that same event to announce the world’s first 5G-upgradable smartphone That handset is, of course, the Moto Z3, revealed alongside an accompanying 5G-enabled Moto Mod that adds 5G networking capabilities. The handset could play a key part in maintaining Motorola Mobility’s continued positive growth going into 2019 thanks to the not inconsiderable hype that’s built up around the incoming next-generation technology. The device isn’t expected to launch until next year. Meanwhile, that also isn’t the only new hardware to have been unveiled by Motorola over the past few months with smartphone landing in each respective tier of the Android pricing spectrum. That’s given consumers a number of options to choose from depending on their needs. So the company appears to be in a good position in the U.S. and other parts of the North America region moving forward.
Whether or not that all adds up to a great first half of the financial year for Motorola, on the other hand, remains to be seen. The OEM’s original parent company, Motorola Solutions, has reported a strong first half of the year, following a better than expected first quarter. However, the now Lenovo-owned mobile division has yet to report its own financials. The newly revealed figures should have a positive impact on those but that doesn’t always equate to a strong overall showing.
Motorola says it's the fastest growing Android OEM in North America in 2018. @DigitalTrendspic.twitter.com/pcKRmRlqwd
— Julian Chokkattu (@JulianChokkattu) August 2, 2018