Google bets on custom colours with first flagship Moto X phone

Google faces tough task reviving Motorola in market dominated by Apple and Samsung

Motorola unveiled its highly anticipated Moto X smartphone, which will be customisable with different colors for AT&T customers and marks the cellphone maker's first flagship device since Google bought the company in 2012.

The Moto X will go on sale in the US at the end of August or the beginning of September for a suggested retail price of $199.99 to customers who sign a two-year contract at five of the biggest US mobile network operators.

Google, which spent $12.5 billion to acquire money-losing Motorola, faces a steep climb in its effort to revive the mobile phone pioneer in a smartphone market now dominated by Apple and Samsung Electronics.

Once the global No. 2 phone maker, Motorola’s market share was down to 2 percent in the second quarter, ranking it 12th among smartphone makers, according to Research firm Strategy Analytics. Motorola is betting that it can win over consumers by offering a huge palette of colors to personalize their phones as well as unusual phone materials such as wood. In order to promise delivery of customized phones within four days,

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Motorola had contract manufacturing partner Flextronics International Ltd build a factory in the United States. AT&T , the second biggest mobile service provider, will have exclusive rights to let its customers customize the phone from a selection of 18 colors for the back, two colors for the front and seven accent colors for an undisclosed time period.

Rivals Verizon Wireless, Sprint Corp, T-Mobile US and U.S. Cellular will only be able to offer black-and-white versions of the device.

Reuters