“It’s not a new idea that consumers should actually prefer a high-end smartphone with slightly older chip and display technology to gain better battery life. This is the pitch that has been made by several vendors literally for a decade,” Tero Kuittinen writes for Forbes. “But it has never worked in the high-end niche. That is why it’s so surprising to see Motorola try it now.”
“Motorola is pricing the Moto X at $199 with contract or $575 without – even though it ships with an old version of the Android OS,” Kuittinen writes. “This is the price level of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the new iPhone that will introduce a major software upgrade. Trying to explain the pricing of the Moto X with wood veneers and a camera that is activated by a wrist flick will be an epic challenge.”
Kuittinen writes, “I cannot remember the last time a phone with an old version of an operating system and one year old display technology was priced at luxury level and had a successful debut. Has that ever happened?”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple exists to delight customers by making the best products on earth.
The only reason why Motorola Mobility exists is because Google lost control of Android to Samsung. That is not a winning raison d’être and, when compared to Apple’s, it’s downright pitiful.
Related articles:
Piper: New Moto X won’t draw consumers from Apple’s iPhone – August 2, 2013
Google’s ‘Moto X’ enters crowded smartphone market – August 1, 2013
J.D. Power: Apple ranks highest in smartphone customer satisfaction for 9th consecutive time – March 21, 2013
J.D. Power: Apple iPad ranks highest in tablet customer satisfaction – September 13, 2012
Yankee Group: iPhone ownership in the U.S. will top Android by 2015 – April 26, 2013
Yankee Group: Apple continues to eat Samsung’s lunch; customer loyalty will drive iPhone ownership past Android’s peak – April 26, 2013
Apple’s iPhone user gains again out-pace Android in the U.S. – April 5, 2013
Why Apple’s new iPhone can’t lose; as with all iPhones, next-gen likely to become best-selling smartphone of all time – April 4, 2013
Apple increases lead over Samsung, gains on Google’s Android in U.S. smartphone market share – April 4, 2013
Analyst: Apple iPhone 5 got over 5X times as many tweets as Samsung’s lackluster Galaxy S4 – March 27, 2013
Yankee Group: Apple to gain additional U.S. smartphone share over Samsung in 2013 – March 20, 2013
With 78% share, Apple’s iOS tightening its grip on the enterprise and taking share from Android – March 8, 2013
Apple rules the skies with 84% in-flight share vs. Android’s 16% – March 7, 2013
Apple iPad continues domination with over 80% usage share in U.S. and Canada – March 7, 2013
comScore: Google’s Android, Samsung continue to lose U.S. share to Apple’s iOS, iPhone – March 6, 2013
World’s best-selling smartphone: Apple iPhone 5; iPhone 4S #2, third place Samsung Galaxy 3 brings up rear – February 20, 2013
Apple iOS dominates mobile video viewing with 60% share vs. Android’s 32% – February 13, 2013
Android’s Web share down 13% since November; Apple’s iOS now over 60% – February 1, 2013
Android’s unit share growth has not hurt Apple’s profit share – February 26, 2013
Apple iOS dominates mobile video viewing with 60% share vs. Android’s 32% – February 13, 2013
Android’s Web share down 13% since November; Apple’s iOS now over 60% – February 1, 2013
The screen is crap for the money (720 AMOLED), it runs an older version of Android, and it looks like a Galaxy!
I will avoid being a smartass about this until Apple comes out with its new products. But when it does, MDN and it’s readers will be there to lay it on all of the naysing BSers. It will be explosive.
it’s just OK. with all the hype i was expecting more
Forgive me an advance Moto X rounding error market share cruel chuckle – BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!
“Apple exists to delight customers by making the best products on earth.”
I sure hope this is still true.
I’m sure hoping Apple releases some significant hardware upgrades this fall when iOS7 is released. When the iPhone and iPad came out, they were revolutionary and Apple essentially had zero competition. I’m not saying the Moto X is serious competition, but at some point, Apple has to again raise the bar and not rest on its past successes.
Google should just ditch Samsung and stay with Moto if they want to be anywhere near successful as Apple. (Which is highly unlikely) Samsung is already building their own OS called Tizen as a way to compete with Google so Google should just stay with Moto. Serves them right after what they did to Apple. They should have worked with Apple instead of against.
The Moto X is manufactured in Texas, and that creates a significant price advantage compared to the iPhone. (Wages and fringes in Texas are about 5x-6x as high Texas as in China.) Consequently, Moto had to go with a lower-quality display and inferior processor to earn a profit on the device.
Unfortunately for Google, the display and processor will prevent the Moto X from selling in large numbers.
This is crazy. I bit funny (maybe sad).
Is Google trying to now steal Apple’s “too expensive for the specs” stigma?
speechless.
The fact that the Google-branded “Nexus” phones and tablets are made by LG, Asus, and Samsung, when Google owns Moto, says it all. Google can’t bring itself to risk the Google brand on a Moto product.
Now, we learn that the latest Moto phone won’t even run the latest version of Android, which means its OS is not upgradeable, by design. That’s pathetic.
…it ships with an old version of the Android OS
Damn! I can hardly wait to hear the logic for this FAIL move! Craptastic!