Motorola Teams Up With CAT Phone Maker Bullitt For A Rugged Lineup

At this point, Motorola's strategy in the smartphone market seems to be best described as "throw everything at a wall and see which sticks." Its phones are all over the place, from an expensive foldable to a handful of mid-range phones to budget-friendly entry-level handsets. As if that weren't enough, Motorola has entered into a partnership that will create yet another line of Motorola phones that might not actually bear Motorola's DNA inside.

You might not be familiar with the Bullitt Group but you might be familiar with at least one of the two smartphones the company sells. Licensing the names from their respective owners, CAT and Land Rover phones boast to be some of the most rugged phones in the mobile market and often look the part. Now Motorola and Bullitt are teaming up in what is described as a "global strategic brand partnership" for Motorola-branded rugged phones.

It's not that Motorola doesn't have its own rugged line of phones, or at least had one. Those took on different names, from Motorola DROID to the Moto Z Force, depending on the company's marketing strategy at that time. This time, it might not be making these rugged phones itself.

Given the Bullitt Group's actual business, this partnership means that the company will make the phones and then slap Motorola's name everywhere. As far as the world is concerned, this might very well be a Motorola phone, adding to the dizzying number of models under its brand.

That said, CAT and Land Rover rugged phones haven't exactly been notable for their features aside from their durability and a Motorola-branded Bullitt phone might not even make a dent in Motorola's profits. This, however, might also hint at one other way Motorola could stay afloat, licensing its brand to other phone makers the way BlackBerry did and, soon, LG as well.