According to Google's Patrick Pichette, Motorola's current product pipeline isn't "wow by Google standards".

Pichette, who as CFO and senior vice-president is pretty high ranking at Google, gave the surprising remarks about the Google-owned company during the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference, first reported by The Verge. 

As previously discussed on a company earnings call, Pichette said part of the reason the "wow" standard wasn't being met was because Google inherited Motorola's product pipeline.

"Motorola has a great set of products, but they're not really like 'wow' by Google standards. Dennis Woodside and his team have inherited 18 months of pipeline that we have to drain right now," Pichette said.

In recent months, Motorola has released the Droid RAZR Maxx HD and DROID RAZR M. While they're pretty solid smartphones, customers were expecting more from the Google-owned company. We've yet to see a Motorola product on which Google's mark is clear.

Rumours have suggested that Motorola will release an "X" handset featuring a 5-inch edge-to-edge display like the Motorola Razr M and be one of the first handsets to run Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie. But given Pichette's comments, a handset like this may be down the road quite a way. 

Pichette's 18-month projection would mean the inherited pipeline may be cleared in November, given the deal was closed on 22 May last year.