Motorola’s Secret: Sales Of Banned Smartphones, Tablets, Will Continue

Motorola’s Secret: Sales Of Banned Smartphones, Tablets, Will Continue

US shoppers will be able to buy Motorola products like the Xoom tablet and Droid X after today, according to a statement from the company.

Motorola is facing an import ban on a large number of its most popular devices after the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled in favor of Microsoft in a legal dispute over software patents. After the ruling, Motorola had 60 days to cease the importation of the devices which contained the contested software.

That 60 day time limit is up tomorrow.

With the ban in place, will shoppers wake up in the morning to find Motorola smartphones like the Atrix, Droid Pro, Backflip, and Droid X… and the Xoom tablet, selling out at stores and websites?

Nope. The company says they have a plan.

What’s that plan?

They’re not saying.

That, of course, has lead to much tongue wagging on the Internet.

Ars technica appears to be the most quoted and referenced on the subject. They see three possibilities. That Motorola may settle with Microsoft – after all, Motorola used to  purchase a license to use the disputed software, but they stopped paying for it five years ago.

They also said that perhaps Motorola simply imported enough devices to be very well stocked for the future. A third solution is that Motorola may update the software to remove the previously licensed technology.

Ars technica questioned Microsoft about Motorola’s statement saying sales would continue, and ask if a deal had been made. Microsoft replied “We do not have information on how they will comply,” according to the tech site.


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