When the Moto X was made official, one of the most interesting aspects of the device was that Motorola would assemble devices in a facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Most mobile devices are manufactured overseas, so this news was a pretty big deal at the time.
Fast-forward to today and it looks like Motorola’s “Made in the U.S.A.” effort is coming to an end. Motorola has announced that it’s shutting its Texas facility down by the end of 2014. The factory currently employes around 700 workers, but at its high point, it housed 3800 employees.
“What we found was that the North American market was exceptionally tough,” Motorola President Rick Osterloh told the Wall Street Journal. A Motorola spokesperson went on to say that the Moto X will continue to be made in China, Brazil and other countries.
Motorola used the facility to build the custom Moto Maker versions of its Moto X flagship and then mail them quickly to buyers. However, the Moto X doesn’t seem to have gained as much traction with consumers as Motorola would’ve liked. Now that facility is closing, meaning that the Moto X will become just like most other smartphones in that it’ll be made overseas.
Lenovo recently agreed to acquire Motorola from Google for a cool $2.91 billion. However, Motorola’s Rick Osterloh says that the decision to close this Moto X factory was made independent of the Lenovo sale.
How many of you purchased a custom Moto X using the Moto Maker tool?
