RUMOR: MOTOROLA TO STOP BUILDING XOOM TABLET AFTER JUNE

According to an unconfirmed report, Motorola is set to curtail production of its XOOM tablet beginning in April and production will cease after June. Industry watcher DigiTimescites anonymous sources from within component suppliers in claiming that XOOM production in the first quarter of 2011 met forecasts of between 700,000 and 800,000 units.

Motorola’s manufacturing partners are expected to ship between 400,000 and 500,000 units in March, and then April production will drop to 300,000 tablets. May’s production will reportedly dip further still and DigiTimes claims Motorola will stop building the XOOM at the end of June.

The cause of the alleged drop in production is unclear, though the website’s sources speculate that Motorola may be uncertain about its position in the tablet market and will therefore slow production. They also speculate that Motorola may instead launch a new version of its XOOM tablet, which is the more likely scenario considering Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha’s previous comments with regard to the tablet market.

Motorola responded to the rumor stating that it is false and the XOOM tablet will continue to be manufactured after June. But, it is the same XOOM that is on sale now or a different tablet with the same name?

MOTOROLA CEO DEFENDS XOOM'S SKY-HIGH PRICE TAG

At Mobile World Congress on Wednesday, Motorola Mobility chief executive Sanjay Jha came to the defense of the company’s decision to price its first Android tablet at $800. The Motorola XOOM will be a flagship Android tablet when it launches in the near future, and Motorola has slapped on a flagship price tag. With 3G connectivity, the 32GB XOOM will be $70 more expensive than an Apple iPad with the same amount of storage. “We felt that our ability to deliver 50Mbps would justify the $799 price point,” Jha told reporters at Mobile World Congress. “It is 32GB with 3G and a free upgrade to 4G. Being competitive with iPad is important. We feel that from the hardware and capabilities we deliver, we are at least competitive and in a number of ways better.” Of note, the 3G XOOM will reportedly also require users to purchase at least one month of cellular data service in order to unlock Wi-Fi connectivity — ostensibly adding another $30 onto the price of the XOOM and making it a full $100 more expensive than the comparable iPad model. The Wi-Fi-only XOOM will be priced in line with the comparable iPad model at $600.

MOTOROLA COMPLETES SPLIT INTO MOBILITY AND SOLUTIONS

Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha rang the opening bell of the NYSE today, signalling the completion of the split of Motorola into two separate companies, Mobility and Solutions.

Motorola Mobility, trading under MMI, will focus on consumer mobile devices and home solutions. Motorola Solutions, trading under the ticker symbol MSI, targets government and enterprise workers.

Jha, who will serve as CEO of Motorola Mobility, said in a press release, "We are pleased that Motorola Mobility has reached this important milestone. After more than two years of planning, today we begin operating as a financially strong, independent company trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
We are well-positioned to build on the strong momentum we have in smartphones and end-to-end video solutions –and to take advantage of opportunities resulting from the convergence of media, mobility, computing and the Internet."