Strategy Analytics recently released their sales analysis of the Moto X for Motorola which resulted in a startling number. Apparently, in Q3 the Moto X sold 500,000 units. At first blush, these numbers seem terrible. When you consider that Apple sold 9 Million iPhone 5S devices in one weekend, and Samsung sold 10 Million Galaxy S4 devices in a month, then 500,000 is a minuscule amount.
However, this paltry number belies some statistics which haven't been factored. First, these sales figures do not account for a whole quarter, but are actually only for a five week period of time, based upon when the device launched in that quarter. Not only that, but the launch was actually limited to a couple of carriers at first and only in the US, which is a very limited release.
Now, contrast that with the LG G2 which is a very powerful and feature-rich device. Based upon current sales figures and LG's own estimates, they expect to sell 3 Million units of the G2 by the end of the year. This is for a device which launched in August in Korea, then went to 130 markets globally in September. The math on this comes out to about 500,000 units per month. The picture becomes a bit clearer now and the numbers for the Moto X don't look nearly as bad. Perhaps comparing the companies which operate at the same level is the better way to judge relative success.
It would be great to see bigger numbers than this from Moto, but the bottom line is they are selling the Moto X at a decent pace. Apple and Samsung spend literally billions on advertising, so it's going to be ridiculously hard to fight a Juggernaut like that. Perhaps Moto's idea to capture the mid-range and low-end market with the Moto X and the Moto G isn't too bad of a plan right now...
What do you guys think? Is the Moto X an unmitigated disaster or a surprisingly solid success in a really tough market?
Source: WSJ
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