On Tuesday, Motorola announced the company’s 2015 lineup by introducing a new Moto X (Moto X Pure Edition) handset along with a new waterproof Moto G. The biggest announcement is that the company plans to skip over the carriers and sell these directly to consumers.
What’s New
During Tuesday’s press conference, Motorola actually announced two variants of its Moto X flagship smartphone: the Moto X Play, a smaller version of the phone only being sold internationally, and the Moto X Pure Edition, which will be sold here in the States for $399.
Aesthetically, most consumers will be hard pressed to tell the difference between last year’s model and this year’s model. A growing trend in 2015 seems to be “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” when it comes to design. That said, the Moto X Pure Edition does sport a larger 5.7-inch display, a 21MP camera, 3000mAH battery, and 3GB of RAM.
While the bump up to 21MP in the camera was a surprise, the biggest change to the phone is its universal LTE banding. This means that a Moto X Pure Edition can be used on every major carrier in the US, no need to swap phones if you make a change from Verizon to T-Mobile.
Phone design aside, there was one more big announcement that Motorola made at the announcement. According to Jeff Miller, head of sales for Motorola, the company believes its brand is strong enough to be sold directly to consumers, skipping the carriers as the middleman.
Its Motorola’s hope that the Moto X Pure Edition’s high-end features, low price tag, and unlocked nature — coupled with the growing trend of buying your phone outright sans contract — will entice consumers into purchasing directly from the company through their online store.
At this time, it’s unclear how large this market really is, however. Many Chinese companies, such as ZTE and Xiaomi, have taken this route, but none of them have the same branding here in the States as Motorola.
“Consumers are going to need an overwhelming push to change,” said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis.
Whether Motorola is giving consumers that push remains to be seen, but the company is optimistic.
“We’ve got a good chance to stand apart in this area — and lead,” said Miller.
Typical of most smartphone announcements, there is no firm release date. During the press conference, Motorola indicated that the Moto X Pure Edition would be going on sale in Europe, Latin America, and North America sometime in November, so stay tuned for a firm date soon.
