Motorola outlined its high hopes for the Q smart phone, aka the "BlackBerry killer," in May, saying it expected sales to match that of the popular RAZR when it was first released, but evidence suggests the vendor's forecast was too optimistic. Crain's Chicago Business points out that Motorola didn't release Q sales numbers in the third quarter like it did in the second quarter and suggests that consumers dislike the higher price and clunky software. In short, the cool design of the Q hasn't been enough of a sell. But there's another issue we touched on in May when Motorola made these lofty projections. Smart phones still aren't viewed as mass-market devices. The Q has also been CDMA-only so far, and rumor has it that the GSM version may come with WiFi functionality--but it may not be enough with the recent influx of similar devices.
For more about Motorola's Q woes:
- check out this article from Crain's Chicago Business