Motorola CEO confirms X Phone as “Moto X” – launching this summer across multiple carriers and priced aggressively
Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside took the stage this evening at the AllThingsD D11 executive conference, already in full swing. Sitting down with D’s Walt Mossberg, Woodside has not only confirmed the existence of the Motorola X Phone, but the name, expected launch date, and a few other details as well. “It’s going to be called the Moto X,” said the Motorola CEO, “It’s going to be broadly distributed.” Name? Check. Multi-carrier US launch? Check.
He went on to say that Motorola has learned from their mistakes and after sitting down with Larry Page he was given one directive: “take it back to the roots of innovation.” This is why Motorola will be relaunching their entire product line, along with the Moto X, this fall [UPDATE: Moto X this summer, followed by more devices “between now and October”]. The worst part is Dennis Woodside actually having the device on him during the interview, tucked away snugly in his pocket.
Talking more about Moto X, it seems Motorola will once again be placing their focus on their “Smart Actions, with Woodside saying the device will be “contextually aware” and “anticipate” the user’s needs by utilizing various low power sensors. When going into the manufacturing process, Woodside revealed that the Moto X will actually be built here in the US — Fort Worth, Texas, specifically — something you just don’t see from smartphone manufacturers who typically outsource the building of their devices to overseas manufacturers like Foxconn. While around 70% of the device will be built here in the US, he went on to clarify that system components like the OLED display and CPU will be built in Korea and Taiwan, respectively.
When it comes to pricing, Mr. Woodside further divulged that the current pricing gap between $30 feature phones, and $650 high-end smartphones, will no longer exist if Motorola has something to say about it. Surprisingly enough, Motorola also mentioned that they have no special access to Android code and maintains that they wont be given any kind of special favoritism from parent company Google. When it comes to Android, they’re being treated just like any other OEM.
You can watch the full 36 minute video interview — as well at Motorola’s new found interest in security and authentication — below.
UPDATE: According to Motorola’s press release, the Moto X will, in fact, release this summer. In Dennis Woodside’s interview, he was a little more vague when he said the Moto X and a handful of other devices would be launching “between now and October.”
Thanks, Seth!