Bangalore to get a design studio from Motorola
By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 06 December 2006, 18:30 IST
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New Delhi: Motorola is in the process of setting up a design studio in Bangalore, its sixth in the world, after Beijing, Seoul, Chicago, UK and Singapore. The studio will focus on research to gauge consumer likes and market requirements for mobile handsets. “The purpose of the design studio is to understand the market and then use it to influence the global design strategy for mobile handsets,” said Ignacio Germade, head of Motorola's UK and Singapore Design Centers. Germade said that Motorola worked on a single design strategy for similar markets. While products are “influenced” by a specific region, it could be deployed beyond the region as well. Elaborating on the role of the proposed studio, Germade said, “In the case of low-cost Motofone, we had brought our research teams to India to do the user research. With the new studio in place, such research can be driven from India.” The Motofone has features that are unique to India including a dust-resistant key-pad, a display that is visible in bright sunlight, e-ink screen and longer battery life, as per economic time’s report. Earlier this year the telecom major announced a manufacturing facility in India. It has intentions to set up a manufacturing facility near Chennai with an initial investment of $30 million (Rs 135 crore), with plans to ramp it up to $100 million (Rs 450 crore) within a year. Germade felt India to be a huge growth market, with the manufacturing and design studio helping to tap the market better. He said Motorola had not only built momentum but also raised the bar for itself with the launch of the famous Motorola Razr. “You can surprise people only once. Razr is an innovation in the technology space to the extent that it has now become iconic. We will work on its variations, but it’s a good reference which we will use for some time.” The head, being responsible for Motorola's industrial and interface design for the EMEA and South Asia regions, said that in handset designs, the company’s focus in 2007 will be on color, finish and refinement of materials.

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