At MMV we always say that we have to “solve the distribution problem” for mobile and “build for the hump (of the standard deviation curve)” by building compelling mobile browser-based solutions for our bank clients.  And according to my mother and recent data from NPD Group we’ve been focused on the right thing…for now.  The Motorola Razr V3 remains the top-selling cellphone in the US, a position unchanged since NPD began tracking this in 2005.

Now here’s the twist, the rest of the top 5:

2. Apple iPhone 3G
3. Blackberry Curve
4. LG Chocolate
5. Blackberry Pearl

“The voice, browsing and music features represented on this list speak to the diversity of portfolios the carriers must maintain for a diverse consumer base,” said Ross Rubin, analyst with NPD Group.
So while the hump remains the hump, it’s only the RAZR that carries the “voice-only” crowd. What’s amazing is that there isn’t a single other “built for voice first” phone in the top 5.  Which means two things: a) the US phone user is gettting smarter, b) Moto really was on to something with the RAZR.

Now, I used to own a RAZR back in its heyday and any RAZR owner will tell you the phone has a great design and form-factor.  The crap software is the unfortunate surprise.  I mean this software is really crap from the contact manager to the openwave browser.  So, unsurprisingly I discovered and learned from the online world of Motorola modding.  In a few short days, I was running custom firmware and video capture applications.

So, for all of you representing the #1 phone sold, start here: http://www.themotoguide.com/

• The Long Tail of Banking

This entry was posted on Monday, October 20th, 2008 at 10.09am and is filed under consumer insights, mobility, Mobile Money Ventures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.