Motorola puts hopes on €399 Moto X in Europe

Moto X, the first new flagship smartphone launched by Motorola Mobility following its acquisition by Google in 2012, will officially hit European markets on Feb.1, 2014.

The Android-based Moto X is a significant device for Motorola Mobility, spearheading its fight to claw back market share from market leaders Samsung and Apple, and return the firm to profitability – a task it has struggled to achieve despite Google's backing.

In the third quarter of 2013, the vendor generated a loss of $248 million (€181 million), compared to a loss of $192 million in the same period of 2012.

Moto X relies heavily on Google software and services for its feature set, including Google Now voice recognition the vendor said offers touch less navigation of, and access to, menus and apps. The camera is activated with a twist of the wrist, and Motorola Mobility said both features have proven popular with customers in the US, where the smartphone was launched in August.

Google Now is accessed three times more often, 30 per cent more pictures are taken, and the average number of times users turn their screens on in a day reduced, the vendor said.

The smartphone is first set to go on sale in the UK, France and Germany, with a retail price in Europe of €399. The device will be available in the UK for £25 (€30) per month on 24-month contracts. Moto X will sell alongside Moto G, Motorola Mobility's low-cost smartphone launched in Europe in November.

Motorola Mobility will hope the €399 price tag on the Moto X is enough to persuade consumers to switch back to its brand. In the US, the vendor cut the price of the unit in November to stimulate sales, after disappointing sales of 500,000 units in the third quarter, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing figures from Strategy Analytics.

The US vendor has long since been pushed out of the list of global top five device makers, and the top places in EMEA in third quarter 2013 were occupied by Samsung, Apple, Sony, Nokia and LG, according to Canalys.

For more:
- see this Motorola Mobility release on Moto X
- see this Google results release
- see this Motorola Mobility release on Moto G
- see this Canalys release
- see this Wall Street Journal article

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