What kind of cellphone do you use? If you’re in the majority, it’s a Motorola handset. Motorola now has — by far — the largest share of the handset market in the U.S. and appears to be making a global run at Nokia to try and regain the top global spot for the first time in a decade. The jury is still out on whether Motorola can do this, but if the ultra-popular RAZR phenomenon continues — and it does almost two years after release — then Motorola will continue to make headway. It’s rare that a single product carries a company like this, but just like Apple’s iPod, Motorola’s RAZR re-defined the category.

But it does not stop there. According to Forrester Research, Motorola is one of the top trusted brands in the wireless market, which includes hardware manufacturers and wireless carriers alike, from Motorola and Samsung to Sprint Nextel and Cingular Wireless. Samsung and Sprint Nextel rank among the least-trusted brands in the U.S., while Motorola and Verizon Wireless coming in at most-trusted levels, with Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile also pulling the same score. Just slightly off was Sprint Nextel, but that slightness was enough for a “least trusted” rating.

How about wireless handset manufacturers? In what I consider more perception than actual reality, handset makers Palm scored 4.3 and a B+ overall, while Motorola — maker of the RAZR and other popular offshoot handsets, scored 4.2, for an overall grade of B. LG Electronics and Samsung fared the worst, both scoring 4.0, for overall grades of C- and D-, respectively. The “aura” around the Treo line of smartphones and the RAZR line of phones is probably due to the enormous loyalty customers have to both brands when such a subjective topic of “trust” comes along.

Samsung and LG and other makers have wireless handsets that topple the Motorola RAZR and other phones in terms of features and ease-of-use, but the sheer popularity and loyalty Motorola users have cannot be underestimated. If you create the market — like the RAZR did for slim phones and the Treo did for on-the-go productivity — then customers will always have “trust”. MOT shares seem happy these days as a result.

Source- http://www.bloggingstocks.com

Technorati : LG, Motorola, Samsung, USA, Verizon Wireless, operator