Why are so many people saying the Moto X isn't selling?

[Ry]

I just hope they sell enough to make money or break even so they keep producing phones. I figure as long as they are around the break even point Google won't pull the plug.

That really depends on Google. If they're not turning a profit, Motorola could get hit with some Spring Cleaning. Not saying it's likely. I think Google is content to let Motorola do what they need to do right now and in the near term.

 

[jephanie]

Moto sold 500,000 in about 5 weeks (end of August, all of September). Annualized, that's almost 6,000,000 units if they could keep that pace going. Keep in mind, though, that they are just now getting to the point of selling it outside of the U.S. and Canada. Also keep in mind that Moto's market share with a very limited portfolio of devices is higher than HTC's, who had a jump start on Moto with the all-carrier flagship and a longer reputation outside of Verizon.

I think too many people try to compare Motorola to Samsung or Apple when it seems Motorola basically got rebooted by Google and is really more of a start-up than an established player. I, too, am curious to hear what their 4th quarter numbers look like. And as stated by others, if they can continue to build on the momentum they established here, 2014 will only get better for them.

A couple of points to consider as well:

-- They should have released Motomaker on ALL carriers, not as an AT&T exclusive
-- They should have released it a few months before the release of the new iPhone, not less than a month before the 5S
-- They should have had wood backs from the start
-- They should have marketed it a whole lot more in the beginning

-- The Motomaker exclusivity was likely a two-fold issue: 1) A desire to ensure the production system could operate efficiently to handle broader carrier availability and 2) AT&T likely paid a nice bonus to Moto to get the exclusivity
-- R&D, supply chain management and contracting dictates your release timing; competitors can have a secondary impact to it but they certainly don't dictate your own release timing. If so, it could have cost Motorola millions more in faster (or delayed) timing.
-- This was a mistake in my view simply because they were trying to brag about something that was clearly not ready. They were trying to make a splash; and it worked. But they probably could have waited to announce the natural backs when they were ready. That could have made the same splash. Lesson learned, methinks.
-- Advertising is a tricky beast. You can spend too much too soon or too little too late. The balance needed to be struck is between the sprint and the marathon. I've seen a lot of advertisements for the X since it was launched, so I don't know that I can say they did well or poorly here. Any guess would be purely subjective on my part.

 

[oldDummy]

Motorola is in a sweet spot.
They have killer products, low expectations, word of mouth building and deep pockets.
As previously stated: they are like a startup, almost.
Think Google is doing it correctly.

 

[CarbonOak]

Moto sold 500,000 in about 5 weeks (end of August, all of September). Annualized, that's almost 6,000,000 units if they could keep that pace going. Keep in mind, though, that they are just now getting to the point of selling it outside of the U.S. and Canada. Also keep in mind that Moto's market share with a very limited portfolio of devices is higher than HTC's, who had a jump start on Moto with the all-carrier flagship and a longer reputation outside of Verizon.

I think too many people try to compare Motorola to Samsung or Apple when it seems Motorola basically got rebooted by Google and is really more of a start-up than an established player. I, too, am curious to hear what their 4th quarter numbers look like. And as stated by others, if they can continue to build on the momentum they established here, 2014 will only get better for them.

A couple of points to consider as well:


-- The Motomaker exclusivity was likely a two-fold issue: 1) A desire to ensure the production system could operate efficiently to handle broader carrier availability and 2) AT&T likely paid a nice bonus to Moto to get the exclusivity
-- R&D, supply chain management and contracting dictates your release timing; competitors can have a secondary impact to it but they certainly don't dictate your own release timing. If so, it could have cost Motorola millions more in faster (or delayed) timing.
-- This was a mistake in my view simply because they were trying to brag about something that was clearly not ready. They were trying to make a splash; and it worked. But they probably could have waited to announce the natural backs when they were ready. That could have made the same splash. Lesson learned, methinks.
-- Advertising is a tricky beast. You can spend too much too soon or too little too late. The balance needed to be struck is between the sprint and the marathon. I've seen a lot of advertisements for the X since it was launched, so I don't know that I can say they did well or poorly here. Any guess would be purely subjective on my part.

I pretty much agree with everything you've said, and I certainly don't claim to know the ins and outs of the phone production process. Just some observations I've noticed.
-- Sure AT&T paid Motorola a nice exclusivity bonus, but sometimes exclusivity is a two edged sword. Is it worth losing customers in other providers to the iPhone 5S or the S4? I have a few friends that were intrigued with a custom Moto X on its initial release, but chose other phones because Moto Maker wasn't available for Verizon initially.
-- True that manufacturing and contracts can dictate release dates, but companies do seriously consider release dates of competitors and other factors, such as the holiday season. That's why most flagship phones are released in different parts of the year (e.g. HTC One in March, Galaxy S4 in May, Droid line in August, iPhone in September, etc). Hopefully with the next Moto X, it won't be so close to Apple's iPhone announcement and release.
-- It seemed like advertising only picked up after AT&T's Moto Maker exclusivity ended in November, although that's a personal observation based on ads I've seen (and not seen).

Otherwise I think Motorola has done great so far with Google at the helm. 2013 was a good year for Google to turn Motorola around, and they certainly have made a great product in the Moto X. They seem to be moving up and I look forward to the next Moto X.

 

[Aquila]

I would also bet that the Moto X & G are alot cheaper to produce making the price drops happen without a major hit to profits. To be realistic it is not cheap to develop all those useless features Samsung sinks all their research into.

The X for sure is right around the same price as a Galaxy S4 and a iPhone to produce (iPhone is the cheapest of those three), and I'm under the impression that the Moto G is about 50-60% of the cost of the X, so based on the retail prices and BOM costs alone (so we're not factoring in a LOT of prices) the X is slightly more profitable if bought directly from Moto.

What Moto has done is create a ton of good will. Between a phone that's been almost universally praised in the tech press, releasing a good quality and unbelievably cheap sibling, pushing customization, and getting updates out at an unheard of speed, they've become the scrappy, likeable underdogs of the Android world.

Restarting the brand is incredibly important and nailing the best device of 2013, one that Android nerds appreciate as much as, if not more than the Nexus in many cases, is HUGE. It takes time for word of mouth to gain traction, but Moto's advertising, price strategy and attention to detail on build quality is exactly what is needed to help push awareness while the slow organic growth of company interaction takes place. People know who Samsung and Apple are and buy them because of the names and because of habit. This is important, because it is not because of quality products. Even unhappy, many people will buy the annual update to their own device because of familiarity. Moto, LG and HTC are all doing a great job of getting people to try new things, but Moto's initial velocity and accuracy in this regard seems to be of a much higher caliber.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Re: why is everyone saying the moto x isnt selling??

I think people are overblowing the price drops as bad news, but I think it's great for the consumer and to really get the Moto X out in the open. Motorola did make a few mistakes in marketing and selling the Moto X upon release:
-- They should have released Motomaker on ALL carriers, not as an AT&T exclusive
-- They should have released it a few months before the release of the new iPhone, not less than a month before the 5S
-- They should have had wood backs from the start
-- They should have marketed it a whole lot more in the beginning

I can somewhat understand the slow rollout possibly due to the fact that custom phone design has never really done before, so they were playing it safe. But at the same time, they could have hit a home run in sales if they released all the options at once to all carriers, and marketed it heavily. It is a top 2013 phone according to most Android and general tech sites, so I don't see why it couldn't have been a huge hit.

Just to play Devil's advocate...

-- They should have released Motomaker on ALL carriers, not as an AT&T exclusive

Agree 100%, but then again, why is it ever good idea to offer exclusivity agreements? The only way it makes sense is if the carriers has paid enough $ to make it worth doing. You have to imagine that manufacturers realize they'll take a hit on total sales by doing it, so they have be compensated in some way that makes it worthwhile. Personally, I wish they wouldn't ever do it, whether it be with devices or just certain services, but that's the reality of the situation.

-- They should have released it a few months before the release of the new iPhone, not less than a month before the 5S

Sometimes this can be controlled...sometimes it can't. I mean, think how many Moto X's they could have sold if they released it before the *first* iPhone! (yeah, I know this isn't what you were getting at). At least they did get it out before the 5S, but at the same time, I wonder what their expectation was in terms of iPhone converts? If they didn't forecast high numbers in this category to begin with, they may not have been too concerned with the timing.

-- They should have had wood backs from the start

Or at least not advertised it. Agreed. It's minor cosmetic feature (and not the sort of thing that would affect my decision to purchase), but is still a blemish when not all advertised features are available at launch as promised.

-- They should have marketed it a whole lot more in the beginning

Not really much to comment on here...but advertising and marketing costs a LOT of $$$. Those costs have to be balanced either through a significant increase in sales, or by deferring those costs to the devices. My guess is that they forecasted that additional marketing would not significantly increase sales volumes enough to compensate, and making the device more expensive would have kind of gone against what they were trying to do in the first place.

 

[itic]

YMMV but it was the release of the moto and N5 not the moto and iphone. Google didnt want to have to newly released devices competing for the same dollar. Also the release of the moto X and G was far more complex then the N5. And lastly the KK screw up didnt help either b/c even if someone had a X, G or N5 in their hands, there were still bugs..

 

[anon(847090)]

I think motorola has sold about 2.5 - 3 million X .. its not a lot but i think its a start.

estimate of Q3(37 days and not 90 days) sales is 500k. price was dropped,motomaker was released for all carriers and Kitkat was released on Q4

That would definitly impact sales and Motorola CEO Dennis woodside said that there is a spike in sale after motomaker was made available to all carriers

 

[NoYankees44]

Moto is in rebuild phase. As long as Google continues to let them take a loss, they will be fine.

They are set up to become a power player in less than 2 years. Which is not something i believe that HTC or LG can honestly say. The biggest challenge will be grabing the "Sheep" market. The market that buys Apple and Samsung just because others have them. That is where the real money is. That is also where i believe moto has their sites on.

Every manufacturer has something going for them right now. That is great for consumers. I hope that HTC and LG grow their market share as well. We need a whole range of great options. No 1 or 2.

 

[Tom Westrick]

Here's my opinion on the whole Motomaker exclusivity deal with AT&T. One, AT&T more than likely paid Motorola some amount of money to be the single carrier with Motomaker option. On the other hand, there were a lot of quality issues with the first batches of phones. It takes a certain amount of time to not only get the machines calibrated, but also get the workers trained well enough that everything operates smoothly and they can meet demand. If Motomaker had been available to all four major US carriers, it would have been a disastor.

 

[Pollster]

^ +1

 

[jephanie]

-- Sure AT&T paid Motorola a nice exclusivity bonus, but sometimes exclusivity is a two edged sword. Is it worth losing customers in other providers to the iPhone 5S or the S4? I have a few friends that were intrigued with a custom Moto X on its initial release, but chose other phones because Moto Maker wasn't available for Verizon initially.

I agree. And I would bet that the Verizon-branded Droid line had a lot to do with this. AT&T got some type of exclusivity with Motomaker while Verizon got exclusivity with the dog ugly Droids.

With any luck, 2014 will be a much better experience for those of us interested in the next X.

 

[Ry]

I agree. And I would bet that the Verizon-branded Droid line had a lot to do with this. AT&T got some type of exclusivity with Motomaker while Verizon got exclusivity with the dog ugly Droids.

With any luck, 2014 will be a much better experience for those of us interested in the next X.

The DROID aesthetic is established. Did you think they were going to go soft with the next batch?

 

[jephanie]

The DROID aesthetic is established. Did you think they were going to go soft with the next batch?

Nope. Merely pointing out that the Droid branding was Verizon's exclusivity deal while AT&T paid for the Motomaker exclusivity.

 

[sierrajinx9]

Re: why is everyone saying the moto x isnt selling??

Motorola Mobility and Motorola are no longer combined! Motorola now is just a Device business, and MOTOROLA MOBILITY (Cell Phones or other Cellular Related Devices) is now owned by GOOGLE.... So i only see these phones getting better because now GOOGLE owns a phone maker and can build the BEST working devices without the Maker trying to brand its own COVERS (aka HTC Sense, Galaxy)...Also Microsoft now owns NOKIA, so don't expect NOKIA to drift to far from WINDOWS PHONES anytime soon, they have only released 1 Android phone to date

 

[sierrajinx9]

Re: why is everyone saying the moto x isnt selling??

The only thing AT&T did with its IPHONE Exclusivity contract when IPHONE first launched was DESTROY their network... ANGER their entire fleet of customers, and in the end... APPLE Was the only one to benefit from this.... AT&T now has the worst REP in America, even though someone in AT&T keeps making for "Independent Studies" to tell people they rank highest in something... when the ONLY STUDY that matters is Consumer REPORTS and JD....

APPLE knew IPHONE was gonna be a hit, and they knew, that with the volume they where selling, they should get 1 carrier to KEEP it exclusive for a few years, rather then DESTROY the entire CELLULAR Industry...

TMOBILE USA was actually Carrier of CHOICE, but weeks before the first ANNOUNCEMENT of IPHONE, TMOBILE Backed out knowing they wouldn't be able to handle so AT&T Bit the bullet... and that bullet hit them so hard...

 

[omega1300]

Actually, I went back to Att to get the iPhone originally and have been with them since over a variety of phones.

They've improved greatly since, and I enjoy their coverage. Can't see myself leaving.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Ry]

Nope. Merely pointing out that the Droid branding was Verizon's exclusivity deal while AT&T paid for the Motomaker exclusivity.

"dog-ugly"

 

[Mac58]

Nice to see so many responses on this thread. I for one just hope Moto continues with its new 'pep in step' attitude and makes the moto x even more amazing lol. I also wonder if they wil release any sales figures when google has its quarterly earnings call in a week or so. Probably not but it would be nice to know where they stand.

 

[jephanie]

"dog-ugly"

Well. They are.