Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Motorola Mobility said that customers will be able to customize its forthcoming Moto X smartphone to their liking. Although the company didn't provide any other details about the phone--including how it can be customized, what it will look like, when it will launch and how much it will cost--the company is embarking on a major new advertising campaign for the device, which will be assembled in a plant in Ft. Worth, Texas.
In conjunction with the July 4 holiday, Motorola is running an ad campaign for the phone with the tagline "Designed by you. Assembled in the USA."
Here is Motorola's ad, which according to AdAge will run in the July 3 editions of The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post:
Source: AdAge
Motorola executives have been hyping the Moto X for months now. Based on comments from various Motorola executives, the phone will run the stock version of Android and will likely include a variety of sensors that, for example, could power up the phone when a customer takes the phone out of his pocket. The device will also likely feature a powerful battery, durable design and potentially a waterproof coating. And, based on Motorola's ad, it appears customers will be able to customize the phone. It's unclear exactly how customers will be able to tweak the device, but they may be able to choose the phone's screen size, processor and wireless carrier.
"Smartphones are very different than other tech products a consumer owns," Brian Wallace, Motorola's vice president of global brand and product marketing, told AdAge. "They're closer to shoes or a watch. You carry it with you everywhere you go. Everyone sees what phone you're carrying and they judge you on it. Yet, it's the one thing you carry that's the least customizable."
Wallace declined to provide details, but said Motorola is attempting to put a "Googley attitude" into its operations and image.
The Moto X is heading into a hotly contested market. According to research firm comScore, Apple is the leading smartphone manufacturer in the United States with a 39.2 percent market share in May. Samsung follows with a 23 percent share. Motorola is in the No. 4 position with 7.8 percent of the market, a decline from the 8.4 percent it commanded in February. Further, the Moto X will likely go up against Apple's next iPhone as well as Samsung's Galaxy S4 and HTC's Android-powered One.
For more:
- see this AdAge article
- see this Verge article
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