Moto X : What is the argument behind the exclusivity in this industry?

[jerrod6]

The real problem is that Verizon doesn't want the 32gb version and they don't want the customization yet. They don't want this phone to steal sales from there beloved "exclusive" DROID line up. They don't like phones with bigger storage. They want you to use the cloud..and there data. So Moto can't force a Verizon to buy anything. AT&T is giving you way more choices in phones, storage sizes and bringing them out first. Don't you think that the DROID deal between Moto and Verizon would carry a ton of weight? Like if Verizon really wanted to give you these options and customization Moto would be very compelled to take care of there number one customer. Fault lies with Verizon on this phone and all the others lately that they either haven't gotten at all, have gotten months later, or haven't offered up the bigger storage.

I completely agree with this. There is no way Verizon wants a 32gb phone that can be customized sitting next to their newly released Droids so they probably refused to market the customizations or 32gb phones at least until they can move some new Droids. As for why the carriers call the shots and the OEMS fall in line...it is because we consumers don't do anything about it. If we want to be able to buy any phone we want we have to be willing to pay full retail price for it. This is what happens in Europe and other countries. Consumers buy the phone, pay the full price, and the carriers fall all over themselves to offer you NETWORK services NOT a phone.

From what I have been reading on this forum and others, no one seems to want to pay full price for this phone..until that changes and until consumers petition the FTC and demand that we be able to buy phones at full retail price without carriers continuing to charge us the same amount as phones they subsidize nothing is going to change. Somehow we will pay full price for HD TV's, audio units and PC's but not phones? If we were able to pay full retail price and let the market work, the price of phones would probably decline. It is in the hands of us consumers.

 

[robertopod1968]

And why isn't anybody crying that you can't get the new Motorola Maxx, mini and ultra on any other carrier? Those are Verizon exclusives. I would buy a Maxx but I own a company with 16 lines. We are in rural areas a lot and once you get off of Verizons LTE range there data speeds are crap and barely usable. Verizon users have more options on the new Motorola phones than anybody else.

 

[dpham00]

So the recurring opinion that I'm seeing here is that the carriers call the shots and somehow that's good for the manufacturers. Yes and no. Sure, they can cut down on the marketing budget and let the retailer do the legwork, and they get paid large sums of money upfront for exclusivity. Nice. On the flip side, they limit sales of their product to a relatively small portion of the market for a definite or indefinite amount of time. In that time, the casual VZW user who saw the Moto X ad waltzed into the store and looked at all his options. "Well, the Moto X is available, but you can't customize it like you saw in that ad. Oh, and we don't have the 32GB model, sorry. Here's the Galaxy S4, and over here's the HTC One," and so on. "...I'll take an , please." Now multiply that times all the carriers - all their new customers and upgrades in that one or two month timeframe. Oops. How much revenue did you just lose by focusing sales on just ~30% of your consumer base? All those other people are now contractually bound for 1-2 years and won't be buying your product anytime soon. Good thing you let that one carrier strong arm you into that sweet exclusivity deal, though, huh?

The relationship between OEM and retailer is one of codependency. The carrier needs Samsung and HTC and Motorola just as much as those companies rely on the carrier, but somehow that seems to have been forgotten. These OEMs should focus on making cutting-edge, top quality products that the public demands, then sell those products to the carriers. That's it. Too damn bad if you want it to say DROID on the back and have red buttons, Verizon. EVO-what? Nope. Buy it or don't. If the carriers pass on a device, that's their loss or gain. The market will decide that though, won't it? Watch how quickly they cut all the bull**** when their bottom line falls through the floor because they don't offer anything worth buying. My point is this: the manufacturers need to sack up and lay down some ground rules. It will be better for them, and better for us, the consumers.

The relationship between carriers and manufacturers are codependency, but to a point, at least on Verizon. Let's say Verizon doesn't carry any htc phones. Would some people leave? Sure. But a very small amount. Hell, Verizon could have had the iPhone exclusive, but chose not to since it could not strike a deal to its liking. Keep in mind about half of all smartphones sold on Verizon are iPhones

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

[Pollster]

For everyone crying about smaller storage options off AT&T, have you thought it might be the carrier?

Let's say you're Verizon. You sell people bandwidth by the gigabyte. Anything they can't fit on their phone, they have to move back and forth from the cloud making you money. Would you want phones with larger storage at all? Should Verizon sell you 16GB now on the phone that's yours forever, or the same 16GB month after month?