Moto X5 cancelled as Motorola lays off large portion of engineering team, Moto Mods in peril
Things aren’t looking to so good for our friends at Motorola. Yesterday, a report from 9to5Google stated that the company’s US branch was undergoing some pretty big changes, laying off a significant portion of their engineering staff in Chicago.
This information that was confirmed earlier today with Motorola confirming that less than half their staff (Android Police reports somewhere around 190 people) would be losing their jobs. What does this mean for Motorola’s future smartphones? Well, there are some changes being made there as well.
While Motorola’s flagship Moto Z line doesn’t appear to be in jeopardy at the present moment, it seems Motorola could be giving the axe to a few other projects. Sources claim the recently-leaked-but-still-unannounced Moto X5 is no longer a thing. It seems the entire X line is now being shelved while Motorola refocuses on their more successful E, G, and Z phones — at least for now.
As for Moto Mods, their future is a little more uncertain. Lenovo is reportedly scaling back efforts when it comes to partnering with 3rd party accessory makers for more “niche” Mods. You know, like that Indiegogo funded physical keyboard Mod everyone was so excited about.
While it’s possible Motorola could end up ditching their Z line entirely in the near future, right now it’s looking like it’ll stick around for another generation or so. With the Moto Z3 around the corner, we’ll have to see if the flagship phone could help steer Motorola in the right direction or, if like the X line, it’ll crash and burn as well.
via Android Police