Motorola poised to drive mobile phone adoption for mass market consumers in the Middle East and North Africa

Motorola's expanded product portfolio is designed to address the diverse needs and desires of mass market consumers from the Gulf to the Levant and North African countries.

"Motorola's mass market strategy for the Middle East and North Africa serves two market needs - 'connecting the unconnected' for whom mobile handset ownership was previously unattainable because of cost, and providing an affordable 'second phone' alternative for emergency or extended family use. Our new mass market portfolio meets both of these demands with the same reliability and style as our highest-end models," said Mohammed Badran, Motorola's Marketing Director for Middle East, North Africa & Turkey.

"Mass market mobiles require specific features like long battery and stand-by times, durability, and large displays, all at an affordable price. The Middle East's concentration of expatriate workers and its status as an emerging market focused on increasing communications access for all residents make Motorola's new mass market portfolio an ideal fit for this region," he added.

Underscoring its global commitment to the mass market, Motorola also announced today that it has been selected by the GSM Association (GSMA) to serve for a second phase as the sole supplier of handsets for the Emerging Market Handset (EMH) program - a program that strives to advance the social and economic development of emerging markets through mobile communications. The GSMA announcement was simultaneously launched at media events today in Singapore, Pakistan, the UAE and Egypt.

New Affordable Handsets Deliver High-End Looks, Performance

Motorola continues its pledge to serve mass market consumers by introducing compelling features, designs, and technologies such as stylish thin form factors, TFT displays, FM Radio, Camera, Speakerphone, and Lantern across a broad range of products. This new portfolio of handsets, which includes the Motorola C118, C139, C168, C257, and C261, offer consumers choices that best suit the needs of their professional and personal lives.

Motorola C118

With its compact design and easy-to-use keypad, the C118 is a versatile handset that provides impressive talk times of up to 450 minutes and up to 350 hours of standby, reducing the need for frequent recharging. The phone features selectable ringtones, short message service (SMS), alarm clock, screensavers, and games making the Motorola C118 a practical and affordable mobile phone for everyday use.

Motorola C139

With its brilliant color display, compact size, and durable anti-slip side grips, the C139 keeps you connected in style. The C139 is packed with features including a 65,000 colour TFT display, multi-character phonebook search with internal phonebook storage, SMS, vCard, calendar/datebook with alarm, downloadable ringtones, and an impressive 700 minutes of talk time/ 450 hours of standby time. The phone also includes enhanced usability features such as zoom font, which displays enlarged characters when entering numbers, and Motorola's illuminating Lantern technology.

Motorola C168

Designed for the socially active individual, Motorola's C168 offers broad functionality and features in a sleek and slim form factor. With storage for up to 600 phonebook entries and 250 SMS messages, the C168 allows users to keep important information and messages at their fingertips. The C168 includes a 65,000 colour screen, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), zoom font, polyphonic ringtones, as well as Motorola's Lantern feature. In addition, the C168 keeps everyone connected with the latest news and information via a built in FM Stereo radio.

Motorola C257/261

The C257 and C261 are the latest of Motorola's slim and stylish handsets, which focus on sophisticated ultra-thin design. These new phones provide a refined sense of style and value for mass market consumers. Both models offer a crystal clear TFT display capable of 65,000 colours, MMS, 1MB of storage memory and up to 450 minutes of talk time and 250 hours of stand-by. The C257 and C261 also include speakerphone functionality enabling users to engage in conference calls with small groups. In addition, the C261 features a VGA camera to capture images while on the move.