• Motorola’s smartphone sales in 2024 grew 21% YoY, outpacing the market average of 3%.

• This also translated to Motorola recording its highest annual sales smartphone sales in a decade.

• The growth was driven by Motorola’s strategic emphasis on design, user experience and ecosystem development along with channel expansion.

Motorola’s smartphones registered 21% YoY unit sales growth in 2024, outpacing the market average of 3%, according to Counterpoint’s Global Handset Model Sales Tracker. This also translated to Motorola recording its highest annual smartphone sales in a decade while also clocking 17% YoY jump in the average selling price (ASP). The brand experienced high-double-digit growth across all regions except Latin America where its performance was impacted by a large base effect. This global growth increased regional diversification of Motorola’s sales, with Latin America’s share falling under 50% for the first time since 2018.

Motorola Smartphone Sales Share by Region, 2024 vs 2023

The growth was driven by Motorola’s strategic emphasis on design, user experience and ecosystem development along with channel expansion:

Design: Through its ongoing collaboration with Pantone, Motorola consistently delivers smartphones with striking and desirable colors, guided by global trends. This focus on aesthetics highlights Motorola’s ambition to become a lifestyle brand, offering consumers an experience beyond just hardware and specifications. The Edge 50 series smartphones ship with scented packaging for an elevated unboxing. Motorola continues to bring first-in-segment features as well. The Edge 60 Stylus is the only smartphone offering a stylus in its price band, while the Edge 60 Fusion brings a quad-curved display.

With more smartphone innovation taking place on the software side, the design, touch and feel of devices now act as significant differentiators, playing a key role in driving sales, building brand loyalty and offering better value.

User experience: Motorola continues to stick to near-stock Android experience across its smartphones, further differentiating itself from peers by offering a simple and intuitive interface. Motorola has expanded its partnership with Pantone to enhance its cameras and displays to deliver true colors and address key factors that significantly influence consumer buying decisions, as regularly shown by Counterpoint’s consumer surveys.

Keeping up with the latest innovations, Motorola has integrated AI capabilities through MotoAI in its flagship devices. The ‘Catch Me Up’ feature utilizes natural language processing to generate summaries of missed calls and messages, while the ‘Remember This’ feature employs AI to analyze and tag captured content for enhanced searchability and recall. As more AI use cases emerge, we will likely see further additions of features and changes in UI and consumer behavior.

Collaborations: Motorola is strategically leveraging sports sponsorships to enhance its identity and promote its smartphones and ecosystem products to a wider audience. In the US, it has partnered with prominent teams across baseball (e.g. Chicago Cubs) and basketball (e.g. Chicago Bulls), while on the international stage, Motorola’s collaborations with FIFA and F1 provide significant visibility. These high-visibility engagements are pivotal in expanding Motorola’s reach and reinforcing its brand perception.

Connected ecosystem: With its recent expansion into tablets, laptops and location tracker ‘Moto Tag’, alongside its existing range of wearables and hearables, the brand is steadily expanding its ecosystem, offering better integration and support while delivering a seamless user experience. Motorola’s Smart Connect further strengthens the ecosystem by facilitating cross-device integration with Windows and Android devices. The ecosystem development aligns with Motorola’s strategy to position itself as a lifestyle brand while keeping design and functionality at its core.

Ecosystem stickiness enhances consumer awareness by consistently exposing users to the brand's interconnected products and services, creating familiarity and recognition. Over time, this builds trust and credibility, making consumers more likely to choose the brand for future purchases or upgrades.

Channel expansion: Motorola is actively pursuing a strategy of extensive global channel expansion to strengthen its presence in the smartphone market. In India, Motorola is expanding its offline presence, transitioning from being primarily online-driven, to provide consumers with opportunities for hands-on experience. In the US, Motorola has intensified its focus on the prepaid channel, particularly with its Moto G series, resulting in significant overall growth in that market. Furthermore, the brand has established partnerships with network operators in Japan, leading to increased availability of Motorola devices for consumers in that region. The brand has expanded its presence in other key regions as well, including the Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Southeast Asia (SEA).

Outlook

In 2025, Motorola is likely to expand into the MEA and SEA regions while strengthening its position in existing territories with a continued emphasis on design and aesthetics. Motorola is likely to maintain a strong presence in the mid-tier segment while pushing into the premium segment with its upcoming foldable smartphone models. AI infusion will also see deeper integration across devices as more general and specific use cases emerge. We believe the brand is on its way to another successful year in terms of its smartphone growth, but it needs to tackle certain challenges in markets like North America and LATAM due to new trade tariffs and macroeconomic issues.