Re: Moto X: Valentine?s Day Sale starts 2014-01-27
Selling the "value" phone can very easily backfire though. If they gain the reputation of hugely discounting a phone quickly after release, no one will buy it until it is discounted. It is the same stigma as with all of Google's hardware. Everyone expects them to just give it away because that is what they have always done. So if they ever decide to up the retail on a Nexus phone, everyone will just complain despite it being as good as all the other phones in the upper price range. This is part of the reason the gnex was so ridiculed.
Lots of people bought the GNex. Lots.
While I agree with you that the plan can backfire, not many were buying the Moto X to try it out. THAT is way worse than the possibility of gaining the reputation of being a mid-range brand. Motorola IS a mid-range brand when it comes to specs. They don't have the best processors and they don't have the best cameras. Now while those specs work for many people, it doesn't work for many people if you stick a high end price tag on a mid-range spec phone.
I have a very hard time seeing moto undervalue a phone for 6 solid months. It is just not the best way to get your product out there. Consumers want to feel like they are paying premium for a great product. Is is classic apple philosophy. Over price and make them feel like they are better than everyone else. I am not suggesting that moto do this, but I am suggesting that going the opposite direction for an extended period of time is a bad idea.
There isn't room in the market for too many companies who overprice their phones! I can't agree with you that Apple's philosophy is that. First, Apple's philosophy is to have software and hardware that is tightly integrated to idiotproof their devices. By design, that can't happen with Android because Google develops the OS independent of the hardware design. Apple does the complete opposite of that.
Second, Apple has brick and mortar stores and that is something lots of people like having available to them.
Third, Apple makes only 1 and now 2 phones a year and that allows accessory manufacturers to produce accessories in sufficient volume to reap the rewards of volume sales. Lots and lots and lots of iPhone users like their iPhones because of the wide range of accessories that are available for them. With at least 4 different android manufacturers pumping out more than 2 different phones a year each, there aren't near as many accessories available for android phones because it doesn't make financial sense for the accessory manufacturers.
Fourth, iPhone cases ARE premium and that makes them look and feel like premium devices and consumers are more willing to pay a premium price for them for that reason. You can't just slap a premium price tag on a plastic android with mid-range hardware and expect people to buy it. That is what Motorola did when it released the Moto X and not many people bought them until they brought their prices more in line with the specs of the phone. While I like the user experience I get with my Moto X, I would not have paid $550 off contract for a 16GB plastic, 720 HD AMOLED Moto X with a dual core processor and mediocre camera.
I just hope that they do not release the "x2" a month before the iPhone again. That was deliberate stupidity. They need to either release 3+ months before or right after the iPhone. That way they are not in a Grey area when everyone is waiting to see other phones release.
I have to disagree here, too. Those people interested in the next iPhone weren't considering a Moto X by and large.
I think Motorola has a better chance of attracting Samsung phone users, like myself, than attracting iPhone users at this point and what is attracting us is that the cost is lower but the user experience is better despite the mid-range specs AND that the Moto X is near stock and there is no touchwiz to deal with. And for many of us Verizon GNex refugees, the easily unlockable bootloader was an attraction since we can't get a Nexus 5 on Verizon.
I don't think it was stupidity at all to release the Moto X at the exact same time those of us with GNexi were eligible for upgrades. We were the likely buyers of the Moto X.