Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Motorola are looking to boost sales with a new smartphone ahead of the completion of its sale for $2.91 billion to Lenovo Group. Motorola currently has 6.3 percent of the smartphone market. It has been struggling to compete with other smartphone manufacturers and has seen its market share decline from 6.7% last November.
The new handset is going to be priced very competitively, starting at $129 without a contract. This is much less expensive than the average smartphone price of about $330. Motorola is hoping that the new device will particularly appeal to users in emerging markets. It has a 4.3 inch screen, and it uses Google’s Android mobile software.
Motorola has also announced that it is going to upgrade its low end Moto G, to allow it to make use of the faster fourth generation cellular networks. The revised Moto G is going to be made available with a starting price higher than the new smartphone of $219. Motorola believes that by introducing these two new devices, it will be able to grab some of the estimated 70 percent of cellphone users that don’t currently have full mobile internet access. The new Motorola smartphone is due to go on sale sometime in the next few weeks and will be offered in more than 40 countries worldwide.