Motorola looks to capture third spot in Indian smartphone market in 2 years

Motorola is aiming to capture an 8-10% market share of the Indian smartphone market by the end of the calendar year 2026. This ambitious goal is part of the company’s plan to become one of the top three smartphone manufacturers in India. To achieve this, Motorola has been aggressively releasing new smartphones across various categories, with a focus on featuring the latest technology, such as on-device artificial intelligence, with the launch of the Edge 50 Pro.

Prashanth Mani, Executive Director, Mobile Business Group Asia Pacific at Lenovo Asia Pacific, told Business Today, “Our strategy is to be number three in India, with a very clear mandate to be known more as a lifestyle tech (brand).”

To aim to be among the top three, Motorola has adopted a different approach. Mani shares, “We want to be differentiated on a few things. So first is design, for which our devices are coming with very different materials, vegan leather and fragrance. Colours have become a big part, and we have entered into an exclusive global partnership with Pantone, which helps us bring out innovative colours. And the third is India for India, which includes make in India, design for India, and make for India.”

Motorola smartphones are available starting at Rs 6,999 and going up to 99,999, across three different franchises (categories). The G-series starts at Rs 6,999 and goes up to around Rs 17,000; the Edge series is priced between Rs 20,000 and Rs 50,000; and the Razr franchise is priced at Rs 50,000 and above and comprises two devices, the Razr 40 and Razr 40 Ultra.  

"In terms of contribution, the Razr and Edge series are now contributing 46% of the revenue. However, Edge and G series are very close to each other in terms of revenue contribution,” adds Mani.

“Edge is the one that is leading the growth,” adds T.M. Narasimhan, Managing Director, Motorola Mobility India. He says Edge and Razr contributed 22% to our business in the October–December quarter of 2022. But the Edge and Razr series contribution was 45% in the same quarter in 2023. This has resulted in 4x growth for the Edge series and 15x growth for the Razr series.” 

As on-device artificial intelligence is picking up in the consumer hardware space, Motorola too has introduced the feature in its latest Edge device, the Edge 50 Pro. The smartphone features an AI-powered Pro-Grade camera with true colours and a vast range of human skin tones validated by Pantone1, as well as the true colour display on a smartphone, validated by Pantone, starting at Rs 29,999.