Whereas Samsung and Google have dominated the high-end smartphone market in some type or one other, corporations like Motorola and OnePlus are sometimes seen because the underdogs. That mentioned, 2024 has confirmed that each corporations nonetheless have what it takes to make a splash within the North American smartphone market, and 2025 might be the time when each corporations shine.
Motorola and OnePlus took very totally different approaches with their launches this 12 months, with various levels of success. On the one hand, there was a way of focus and restraint, with merchandise providing enhancements that lastly give us the impression that Motorola and OnePlus are lastly heading in the right direction. Then again, each corporations fell brief in ways in which would make them actually stand out amongst juggernauts like Samsung and Chinese language OEMs.
In the event that they need to reach 2025, neither can relaxation on their laurels and must keep their momentum to get extra gadgets in additional arms.
Motorola’s Razr sharp focus
In recent times, Motorola has been seen as little greater than a finances possibility for customers, launching low-cost telephones that compete with Samsung’s A-series gadgets on each specs and worth. Given how distinguished smartphone carriers are in North America, customers will usually gravitate towards iPhones, Galaxy telephones, and even Pixels.
Nonetheless, that provider relationship has been fairly essential for Motorola, and it has helped the corporate safe a strong spot as a high OEM in North America, amongst different areas all over the world, as famous by Neil Shah, vice chairman of analysis at Counterpoint Analysis.
“Moto has been focusing closely on pay as you go channels with some good traction for G & Edge sequence [and] some good promos for Razr 2024 [series] in postpaid at T-Cell and AT&T,” Shah defined in an interview, noting that Latin America has been a stronghold for the corporate, particularly with its finances fashions.
A Motorola cellphone is a protected wager for anybody on the lookout for a low-cost Android cellphone, they usually have confirmed that they will deliver loads of worth at decrease costs.
“What has labored for Moto in markets exterior USA (particularly India) has been centered on CMF (Colours, Supplies and End) in partnership with Pantone serving to it differentiate among the many sea of blacks and received the positioning and partnerships proper. That’s key as nicely in North America,” Shah notes.
Nonetheless, Shah factors out that the corporate nonetheless struggles within the higher-end and premium segments the place Samsung guidelines. That is the place the Razr sequence is available in. I reviewed the Razr Plus 2024 earlier this 12 months and got here away extraordinarily impressed with it, even after I pitted it towards the extra highly effective Galaxy Z Flip 6.
There’s little question that Motorola will focus its efforts on the Razr sequence in 2025, particularly after Lenovo introduced that its cellular enterprise is ready to double by 2026, because of its flagship lineups. Motorola’s advertising efforts for the Razr sequence have additionally paid off, with the corporate focusing on the youthful Gen Z and the older millennials who yearn for the nostalgia of a flip cellphone and one thing apart from an iPhone.
The query is whether or not or not Motorola can stick with it in 2025.
Motorola can’t rely solely on the Razr sequence, notably within the U.S., the place there’s a swathe of high-end Samsung telephones to select from and when customers are uncertain about foldable telephones. Motorola’s closest premium non-foldable cellphone is the Edge 2024, which was a little bit underwhelming in comparison with the Edge Plus 2023. And whereas the Edge 50 Extremely was among the many extra spectacular telephones to launch this 12 months, it by no means arrived within the U.S., leaving loads of room for the Galaxy S24 sequence to eat up loads of the premium market share.
Shah notes that Motorola “is especially nonetheless fairly weak in [the] $500+ wholesale premium section,” and with the rising reputation of the Razr sequence, Motorola can use the momentum round its title to launch a premium Edge mannequin in North America to problem Samsung’s dominance, particularly if it could get the cellphone on provider cabinets.
After all, if Motorola desires a preventing likelihood, it’ll need to do greater than put a pleasant new cellphone on the cabinets, in accordance with Jitesh Ubrani, analysis supervisor for IDC’s Worldwide Cell Machine Trackers.
Whereas Ubrani agrees that Motorola has well-rounded telephones with unbelievable worth, he notes that “the truth is that they don’t have any notable standout options or factors of differentiation and sometimes fall under different manufacturers relating to some smartphone fundamentals similar to images.”
Ubrani means that Motorola ought to provide improved picture and video seize on its telephones, one thing the corporate hasn’t notably excelled in. Maybe the corporate ought to think about a partnership like what we have seen with different Android OEMs. OnePlus’s partnership with Hasselblad has resulted in spectacular digicam high quality on its current gadgets, and Motorola may benefit from an analogous collaboration.
AI may additionally play an enormous function for Motorola in 2025. The corporate is already beta-testing its Moto AI suite with options that summarize notifications, transcribe recordings, and recall saved content material. It additionally confirmed off its Massive Motion Mannequin, which performs actions in apps on the consumer’s behalf, similar to ordering a espresso or Uber. Motorola hasn’t mentioned when this may arrive on telephones, however with the just lately introduced Gemini 2.0, this will’t be too far off, and I may think about this launching in 2025.
After all, that is all contingent on whether or not Motorola can keep away from having its telephones banned within the U.S. The corporate is presently in a patent infringement dispute with Ericsson that would ban its gadgets in a number of international locations, so hopefully, Lenovo can work issues out to keep away from a transfer that may be fairly detrimental to the market.
OnePlus has the {hardware}, but it surely must play the sport
Not like Motorola, which has seen an uptick within the adoption of its flagship telephones, OnePlus has struggled to get its telephones into client arms. The corporate launched the reasonably spectacular OnePlus 12 earlier this 12 months, which I just lately had the pleasure of utilizing.
Because of the multi-year partnership with Hasselblad, OnePlus has managed to develop a digicam system that would rival Samsung and even Google, and the corporate was even among the many first to deliver Android 15 to its smartphones in 2024, one thing even Samsung hasn’t managed to do.
Nonetheless, none of that issues if nobody’s shopping for the cellphone, and OnePlus has been absent from the rankings for high OEM shipments for 2024.
That mentioned, each Shah and Ubrani agree that there’s an total optimistic notion of the corporate. So why is that not translating into gross sales, particularly in North America, which is a serious market? Ubrani tells me that the problem isn’t with OnePlus.
“The problem is the state of the U.S. smartphone market and the truth that telcos act as gatekeepers. When OnePlus first began, they eschewed the telcos by going direct-to-consumer, and although it labored nicely, they had been nonetheless a really tiny participant. They ultimately started to work with American telcos, however this proved to be too costly, they usually ultimately backed away.
The fact is that the unlocked piece of the U.S. smartphone market is tiny (sub 10%), and except manufacturers are keen to spend giant sums of cash to work with telcos, they don’t stand an opportunity. I doubt we’ll see a lot of OnePlus within the U.S. because of this.”
OnePlus may take a web page from Motorola’s e-book concerning provider partnerships in 2025. The final main OnePlus cellphone to be bought by means of a U.S. provider was the OnePlus 10 Professional, and even that was restricted to T-Cell. Since then, anybody who needed a OnePlus cellphone had to purchase it straight from the corporate or unlocked from a retailer. Within the U.S., this makes it extremely troublesome to maneuver a major variety of models, even with the cheaper and extra accessible OnePlus 12R.
Shah additionally factors out that regardless of OnePlus’s engaging portfolio, the $300-$600 worth level that it targets within the U.S. “is barely 5% of the whole market, which reduces its Whole Addressable Marketplace for OnePlus to compete.”
That mentioned, with the upcoming launch of the OnePlus 13, there’s some hope. The world launch is on January 7, and the cellphone ought to show fairly spectacular based mostly on what we’ve seen from the Chinese language variant. It’s unclear if OnePlus’s provider relationships will get higher, however Anshel Sag, principal analyst for Moor Insights & Technique, appears optimistic.
“I believe OnePlus is doing about in addition to they anticipate to within the U.S. market with out in-store provider assist. That mentioned, I do consider that the subsequent technology of gadgets are actually good, and I have been stunned by the standard of the merchandise throughout the model and I believe they need to do a greater job of exposing themselves to customers with their equipment just like the OnePlus Buds Professional 3 that are amongst my favourite earbuds.
The OnePlus 13 units the stage for the subsequent technology and I believe we’ll see some fascinating issues from them subsequent month.”
Moreover, OnePlus has completed a very good job increasing its product portfolio, launching the mighty spectacular OnePlus Watch 2 and Watch 2R together with the OnePlus Pad 2. That is one thing we wish to see Motorola do extra of in 2025, as the corporate doesn’t presently have a branded Android pill or a Put on OS smartwatch. OnePlus could not have an enormous U.S. presence, however Motorola’s rising reputation may benefit from an expanded portfolio and a extra realized household of gadgets à la Samsung’s Galaxy lineup.
One product we hope to see in 2025 is the OnePlus Open 2, particularly after we got here away so impressed by the unique OnePlus Open. The corporate skipped a launch in 2024, so this might be the 12 months OnePlus actually challenges Samsung and Google, however that depends upon its means to get it into client’s arms.
Apart from OnePlus and Motorola, different smaller corporations like TCL, HMD International, and Nothing are nonetheless clawing for market share within the U.S., with TCL having the perfect prospects amongst them. That mentioned, regardless of launching distinctive and reasonably priced merchandise in 2024, the dearth of robust provider relationships will seemingly make it exhausting to develop in 2025.
Motorola’s willingness to play the sport with carriers has solidified its place as a top-selling participant, teetering between the finances and premium segments the place it could compete with each the smaller and larger gamers. Due to this, 2025 might be a giant 12 months for Motorola if it continues to play its playing cards proper, however others, like OnePlus, will seemingly battle to make any vital headway.
