Motorola's new 'Moto X' smartphone will be built in Texas
Motorola's next handset will be Made in America, as the Google-owned manufacturer looks to make a comeback in a market dominated by Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy line.
For months, rumors and speculation have circulated that Motorola was planning a gamechanging 'X phone' aimed at clawing back share in a smartphone market where Apple and Samsung take all of the profit. Now the manufacturer has announced that its next flagship device, the Moto X, will be produced at a manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, Texas, according to CBS News.
Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside formally announced the Moto X and its Fort Worth assembly this week at AllThingsD's D11 Conference. The Moto X will be the first smartphone ever assembled in the United States, Mark Randall, Motorola's senior vice president of supply chain and operations, noted in a statement. This despite the fact that the United States was until recently the largest market for smartphones.
"Fact remains that more than 130 million people in the U.S. are using smartphones," Randall said, "but until Moto X, none of those smartphones have been built in the USA."
The Moto X ? scheduled to debut this summer ? will be assembled at a Fort Worth factory owned by Flextronics International, a Singapore-based contract electronics manufacturer. The 500,000 square-foot facility will employ 2,000 people by August. Locating the assembly operations in Fort Worth will increase efficiencies in production, as Motorola's engineering teams are based in Chicago and Silicon Valley, while its service and repair operations are based in Mexico.
In moving its assembly operations into the United States, Motorola has beaten fellow U.S. phone maker Apple to a possible marketing point. With the American economy still sluggish and unemployment numbers still high, a Made in the USA tag could help to score points in the world's second-largest smartphone market.
Apple CEO Tim Cook last year said he wanted there to be American-made Apple products, despite the company's long-time reliance on Taiwan's Foxconn to assemble its bestselling iPhone. Cook noted that some of the components that go into iPhones are in fact made in the United States, even if the devices themselves are assembled overseas.
"The [ARM semiconductor] engine for the iPad and iPhone are built in the U.S., in Austin Texas," Cook said. "The [Corning] glass for your iPhone... is made in Kentucky."
Apple is already assembling some of its iMac desktop computers in the United States, and the company reportedly will soon debut another Made in America Mac. That Mac, Cook recently confirmed, will be a refreshed version of an existing product, possibly a revamped Mac Pro.
For months, rumors and speculation have circulated that Motorola was planning a gamechanging 'X phone' aimed at clawing back share in a smartphone market where Apple and Samsung take all of the profit. Now the manufacturer has announced that its next flagship device, the Moto X, will be produced at a manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, Texas, according to CBS News.
Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside formally announced the Moto X and its Fort Worth assembly this week at AllThingsD's D11 Conference. The Moto X will be the first smartphone ever assembled in the United States, Mark Randall, Motorola's senior vice president of supply chain and operations, noted in a statement. This despite the fact that the United States was until recently the largest market for smartphones.
"Fact remains that more than 130 million people in the U.S. are using smartphones," Randall said, "but until Moto X, none of those smartphones have been built in the USA."
The Moto X ? scheduled to debut this summer ? will be assembled at a Fort Worth factory owned by Flextronics International, a Singapore-based contract electronics manufacturer. The 500,000 square-foot facility will employ 2,000 people by August. Locating the assembly operations in Fort Worth will increase efficiencies in production, as Motorola's engineering teams are based in Chicago and Silicon Valley, while its service and repair operations are based in Mexico.
In moving its assembly operations into the United States, Motorola has beaten fellow U.S. phone maker Apple to a possible marketing point. With the American economy still sluggish and unemployment numbers still high, a Made in the USA tag could help to score points in the world's second-largest smartphone market.
Apple CEO Tim Cook last year said he wanted there to be American-made Apple products, despite the company's long-time reliance on Taiwan's Foxconn to assemble its bestselling iPhone. Cook noted that some of the components that go into iPhones are in fact made in the United States, even if the devices themselves are assembled overseas.
"The [ARM semiconductor] engine for the iPad and iPhone are built in the U.S., in Austin Texas," Cook said. "The [Corning] glass for your iPhone... is made in Kentucky."
Apple is already assembling some of its iMac desktop computers in the United States, and the company reportedly will soon debut another Made in America Mac. That Mac, Cook recently confirmed, will be a refreshed version of an existing product, possibly a revamped Mac Pro.
Comments
i read the Moto X still has all the crapware layered over Android and will not be upgraded directly from Google but from the carriers. Why bother? All Motorola phones should be like the "nexus" devices. no crapware, and all updates directly from Google. If the crapware is so good, put it in the Play store and people will rush to download it, but we all know that would never happen which is why they put it there and make it so you can not remove it without hacking your phone.
American's have no pride, they only care about how much something costs and rather not know about where it was built or if children were used. Only when the media make an issue of and people feel guilty do that care. Do not worry the Flextronic factory will probably use illegals in it factory to cut costs.
Yeah Motorola needs to do something about their power management problems, Apple has smaller battery and it phone run as long or longer than Motorola phone with bigger battery except for the RAZR max but that thing has a battery which is twice as big as Apple but not twice the life.
I think this is risky move on Motorola part,
Huh. I've seen just the opposite. There's mention of the MotoX being seen in the wild with stock Android. I guess we'll know next month if the rumored release date is accurate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iSteelers
If its a good phone
This is the linchpin. Several coworkers of mine had Motos prior to the 4S's release. One in particular went through four units in a year's time, after which, he fled for the iPhone and never looked back.
I'd guess that's just a project name, not the name it's released as.
EDIT: Well color me surprised. Motorola is calling their soon-to-ship smartphone the Moto X afterall. As far as whether it's stock Android it wasn't specified. Motorola had mentioned earlier this year that their emphasis was going to be more on a "stock" experience as they move forward. Whether the Moto X is part of that move isn't clear at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatorguy
I'd guess that's just a project name, not the name it's released as.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatorguy
For Moto's sake it would be great if it was a "game-changer" as far as features go. Perhaps instead it's only a game-changer for the build location, USA rather than China or Vietnam. The only unique feature I've seen rumored is an innovative way of managing battery life. Maybe Motorola is just really good at keeping the other features under wraps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatorguy
Huh. I've seen just the opposite. There's mention of the MotoX being seen in the wild with stock Android. I guess we'll know next month if the rumored release date is accurate.
What are you now, a spokesperson for Motorola?
If I was would I be guessing? :err:
When you comment on Apple it's as an official spokesman I presume? What a silly comment for you to make.
Speak for yourself. Americans did not elect for manufacturing to move overseas. Moreover, the move overseas happened at the height of the economic boom and the move did not lower prices of named brand merchandise. I will always pay a reasonable amount more for stuff built in the US or other democratic societies.
Moreover, products made in the US do not risk a ITC trade ban for alleged infringed IP. Foriegn manufacturing partners can't as easily steal the design. The move is smart by Google since China is not a market for Google.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TBell
Speak for yourself. Americans did not elect for manufacturing to move overseas. Moreover, the move overseas happened at the height of the economic boom and the move did not lower prices of named brand merchandise. I will always pay a reasonable amount more for stuff built in the US or other democratic societies.
Moreover, products made in the US do not risk a ITC trade ban for alleged infringed IP. Foriegn manufacturing partners can't as easily steal the design. The move is smart by Google since China is not a market for Google.
Actually you are in the minority, BTW, I tend to buy better quality product and preference US companies where I can. However, most American can not afford to buy higher quality US made products, most American rather buy cheap things that break and buy it 10 times over than save up and pay more for better products. If this fact was not true then a trade deficit for the US would not exist and Wal-Mart would not have so many people shopping there.
You are right American did not elect to ship jobs over seas, they just voted with their pocket books. Companies only sought lower cost manufacture to compete against lower cost foreign competition which people were more than happy to buy over something made in the US.
You'll need more than yet another cookie-cutter Android phone to do it.
No matter where it's made.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatorguy
When you comment on Apple it's as an official spokesman I presume?
I'd love to be a spokesperson for Apple. But I don't think I'd qualify.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TBell
Speak for yourself. Americans did not elect for manufacturing to move overseas. Moreover, the move overseas happened at the height of the economic boom and the move did not lower prices of named brand merchandise. I will always pay a reasonable amount more for stuff built in the US or other democratic societies.
Moreover, products made in the US do not risk a ITC trade ban for alleged infringed IP. Foriegn manufacturing partners can't as easily steal the design. The move is smart by Google since China is not a market for Google.
Actually Americans did vote to move manufacturing overseas. The clueless masses elected politicians who sold out and continue to sell out Americans by providing corporations tax benefits to export jobs. They also do not protect America from unfair foreign competition. It is impossible for the first world workers to compete with the third world when countries like China have no labor laws, no environmental laws, no OSHA, no nothing...just do what the government tells you to do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bullhead
Actually Americans did vote to move manufacturing overseas. The clueless masses elected politicians who sold out ....
Nonsense. Blame the politicians when you should be looking in the mirror.
Americans love their stuff cheap. That's why Walmart is the biggest retailer. That's why outsourcing happens (since companies that did not do so in response to the relentless pressure for price reduction -- and hence cost-cutting -- will be out of business in no time).
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
Nonsense. Blame the politicians when you should be looking in the mirror.
Americans love their stuff cheap. That's why Walmart is the biggest retailer. That's why outsourcing happens (since companies that did not do so in response to the relentless pressure for price reduction -- and hence cost-cutting -- will be out of business in no time).
huh? americans "love their stuff cheap" because they can not afford otherwise. Outsourcing happens because the government favors it since it generates short term profits for the politicians puppet masters. The compaines you mention will be "out of business in no time" because of unfair competition from other countries. If you do not understand that, please do not comment any further as you have no clue. Educate yourself. Stop voting for Republicans and Democrats as they are all traitors and have zero interest in helping America.