Details on DROID Bionic Delay, Launching at Same Time as 4G LTE on XOOM

We just got off the Motorola Q1 earnings call and while the amount of money these corporations make isn’t our thing, we do listen in to see if they drop any hints at future phones or tablets.  With Moto being the leader in all things “DROID”, this is one we didn’t want to miss especially with all of the Bionic delay talk floating around these parts.  And sure enough, we got a bunch of info that will help paint the Moto timeline for the next 3-4 months, including more details on why the Bionic was delayed and when the XOOM will see 4G LTE.     

On the new DROID Bionic:

Question:  Does the push out of the Bionic impact the product lineup for the backend of the year or does the Bionic overlap other products you planned to put out in Q3?

Motorola (Sanjay):  As we saw that that product (original Bionic) was pushing out a little bit, we worked with our partners at Verizon Wireless and re-featured the device and we believe that the result of it, we will have a much better device.  We had another device which was a potentially…which had different features than…and we brought in some of the features to deliver what we consider to be a higher feature device that will launch as we go forward into the summer.

Follow-up question:  Can you say anything about what the features would be?

Motorola (Sanjay):  My anticipation is that it will be an important device for us.

Bionic delay due to 4G issues – Launching at same time as 4G on XOOM:

Question:  What kind of precipitated the Bionic delay – your side or the Verizon side?  And on the XOOM, the 4G, is that kind of the timing over the summer that you had talked about before?  Is it possible that the XOOM and the Bionic – does the timing of 4G on the XOOM have anything to do with the change in plan of the Bionic or completely different issues?

Motorola (Sanjay):  They are related and it is to do with the timing of 4G for us. That is the issue that delayed us.  We are engaged with all of the providers in the industry and we feel very comfortable with the fast forward here.  We believe that we will launch both devices with 4G capabilities in the summer here.

Follow-up question:  So once you sell one, you sell the other and they both come out at the same time?

Motorola (Sanjay):  You got it.

More on the Bionic delay – Hardware or software issue?:

Question:  On the delay of the Bionic was it a hardware chip side issue or software issue or a response to the competitive landscape?

Motorola (Sanjay):  It was really a software issue of getting the performance to a place that both ourselves and our partner Verizon Wireless were comfortable launching the device. And as you understand there is a great deal of complexity in launching any new technology like this and that was probably the main matter at heart here.

On Motorola XOOM sales:

Question:  You guys said that you shipped over 250,00 units – can you talk about how many you sold through and what the inventory situation looks like in the channel?

Motorola (Mark):  We shipped over 250,000 in the quarter – with respect to the sellout, the sellout was good.  We had shipped that product late in February, we only had about 5-6 weeks of sell through opportunity there, but we’re pleased with levels of stock and channel at the end of the quarter as well as what we’ve seen through this earnings call.

And a quick recap:

The original Bionic was delayed because it was having 4G LTE issues, but also because Motorola had another device with better specs that it decided to sample from.  The device will launch this summer along with 4G on the XOOM.  Oh, and the XOOM sold just fine and is still selling just fine.

Thoughts?