Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s, Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc (NYSE:MMI), has unveiled a new smartphone, which will be powered by an Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) chip, in place of the commonly used QualComm, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) chip. The launch of the new Razr i smartphone, comes in just under a week, since Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) launched its iPhone 5, and nearly two weeks since Motorola launched its Razr M smartphones.
According to a report published by Reuters, the new Razr i will be launched in Argentina, Brazil, Britain, France, Germany, and Mexico in October, and will be the first handset of a multi-device agreement between the two groups. The Razr i has a 4.3″ display screen and will run on Google’s Android platform. This new model of Razr smart phone is similar to what the company launched earlier this month for the U.S customers, albeit there are a few differences.
The Razr M, launched for U.S customers, bears a QualComm, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) chip, as compared to the Razr i, which touts an Intel chip. Additionally, the Razr M is LTE enabled, making it run on a 4G, network, which seems to the status-quo in U.S., while the Razr i, will only be able to allow 3G internet, which seems to very popular in Europe. Therefore, this signifies one of the major reasons the company is in no hurry to launch it in the U.S markets.
While what Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc (NYSE:MMI) has done is highly considered unusual in the smartphone and tablets industry, Intel Corporation will be looking to build on this milestone achievement, by trying to lure more smartphone and tablet companies into the future, as the PC industry continues to plummet.
Actually, Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc (NYSE:MMI) is not the very first company to manufacture such a gadget powered by an Intel chip. The only difference with devices launched earlier this year, is that the new Motorola Razr i is a bit faster than the smartphone launched by Orange Telecom in the U.K, Lava International in India, and MegaFon in Russia, whose speeds are at 1.6GHz, while the new Razr i is at 2GHz.
Motorola’s Andrew Morley, is quoted in a statement saying, “this chipset gives us exactly what we want to launch in these markets,” while adding that the battery is 40% more powerful than Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 4s. He then said, “it gives us the ability to create a compact device, it gives us speed, and it’s a mid to high tier, mass market device”.
The report also indicates that the new device is so fast that a user can take 10 shots with its camera in less than a minute. It also enables users to navigate quickly from one program or app to another, whether its from the web to sending texts, playing games, or activating the camera.
However, there was no comparison with the new iPhone 5, perhaps the only one could be in the form of screen size and chip type, as well as the LTE vs 3G internet. Nonetheless, the fact that no major comparison was made in the company’s statement, proves that the new Motorola Razr i is still standing in the shadow of iPhone 5.
On the other hand, the report notes that Intel’s market share in the PC chip industry could be set to decline from the current 35 percent, to about 29 percent in the next four years. This is a far better reason why Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is trying to join the more dynamic smartphone and tablets industry.
