In August we heard about the first wave of Motorola Mobility’s cost saving and rationalisation strategies. The company had been taken over in May by Google and it really did seem like a case of the new broom sweeping more cleanly; 4,000 jobs were to go and the huge and confusing range of smartphone offerings were slated to be reduced dramatically. Now it appears that Motorola Mobility is removing dedicated websites in many countries and regions where it is a very minor competitor.
Depending on where you stay in the world you might be greeted by the following message when you head to your localised Motorola Mobility website:
We are streamlining our business and support systems, and unfortunately, we'll no longer have a dedicated website for (Insert your country here).
Your local support sites (Insert your country here) will remain open, well into the future, and we'll continue to provide support for our products.
If you are interested in viewing our current products, you can still do so, here.*
*Products on these sites are not guaranteed to be available in your country.
The “here” link above varies depending upon your region. On the closed “Rest of Europe” website it directs to the UK site.
The list of sites closed with the above message includes; India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Israel, Rest of Asia, Rest of Europe, Middle East & Africa. Looking at “The Rest of Europe” people who would have been catered for by that site can perhaps find what they need on other Motorola sites; Eastern Europe, Western Europe and Northern Europe.
It seems most surprising that the Motorola Mobility India site has been closed in this way. To view current products users in India are redirected to the US site. This is a huge market to withdraw from. India-based mobile website Think Digit said in its report of the closures that “We would recommend not picking up Motorola phones now, if you are in the market for a new Android device. As for those of you who already own Motorola, keep your fingers crossed.”
Now all that seems to remain of the restructuring and rationalisation plan is to sort out the offerings of Motorola smartphone offerings into a smaller, more coherent range, focusing on quality rather than quantity.
