Motricity undergoes strategy makeover
March 5, 2008
Jud Bowman is chief technology officer of Motricity
Motricity has retooled its mobile strategy to align with its core business of providing mobile content infrastructure services after the recent acquisition of online directory InfoSpace.
The company aims to enable its consumers to discover content inside and outside the walled garden. It will now provide services such as powering portals, storefronts, managed Web and search for wireless carriers along with messaging services.
“This deal is one of market consolidation,” said Jud Bowman, chief technology officer of Motricity, Durham, NC. “The acquisition of InfoSpace positions Motricity very well in the content infrastructure space for mobile operators. Combined, we’ve got the leading market share powering 11 of the top 13 operators in North America including AT&T and Verizon Wireless.”
As part of this makeover, Motricity will discontinue the planned divestiture of its direct-to-consumer property, Pocketgear.com.
In December, Motricity announced the sale of another direct-to-consumer site, eReader.com, to Fictionwise. The company will also be divesting in the media and entertainment arena.
These moves will result in about 25 layoffs. All affected employees will be offered severance packages and outplacement services.
“The steps we’re taking to quickly integrate the two companies will position us very well for accelerated growth, while offering greater discipline and a more focused approach for our customers,” Mr. Bowman said.
“While these decisions are always tough, we’re doing what is necessary to position Motricity for long-term and profitable growth,” he said.
The company claims this move will maximize its ability to focus on the needs of customers and drive efficiency through the organization.
Motricity is optimizing its technology, processes and product set and will migrate customers from the Fuel platform to the mCore platform for portal, storefront, search, messaging and managed Web products.
Motricity said that these were necessary steps to integrate the two companies.