Google's CFO says Motorola's products aren't 'wow' by Google standards (update)

If you were hoping to see a revelatory smartphone from Motorola in the near future, you might want to tone down those expectations. Google's Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President Patrick Pichette today said that products in Motorola's pipeline are "not really to the standards that what Google would say is wow — innovative, transformative." The surprisingly honest admission came during Pichette's session at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference.

When questioned on where things stand with Motorola at the moment, Pichette didn't mince words. "We've inherited 18 months of pipeline that we actually have to drain right now, while we're actually building the next wave of innovation and product lines," he said. Google executives have mentioned these prior commitments in the past, and Pitchette's comments suggest we've yet to reach the pipeline's end. "We have to go through this transition. These are not easy transitions."

Google is dealing with an 18-month pipeline of Motorola hardware

Recent releases from that pipeline including the Droid RAZR Maxx HD and Droid RAZR M have been met with mostly positive feedback from consumers and critics, but Google's most avid fans have made it clear they expect to see something more. However, now it seems a Motorola-branded device with true Google inspiration is several months away at best. That fabled product does seem to be in the company's long-term plans, though. "Since day one, we've started working on the next agenda and we see that pipeline kind of showing up," later adding, "our own kind of work is actually quite promising."

Pichette also used the opportunity to quell controversy surrounding Google's current rapport with Samsung. He said Google maintains a "terrific relationship" with the world's number one Android manufacturer. With the release of Samsung's Galaxy S IV just weeks away, it seems rumors of a growing rift between the two may have been overblown — at least for now.

Update: We've updated some of the above quotes with a transcription of Pichette's Morgan Stanley chat, and you can listen to the Google SVP discussing Motorola below.

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