Motorola confirms plans to close year-old Moto X factory in Texas

One of the aspects of the Moto X that was highly touted by Motorola was the fact that the custom Moto X units created using Moto Maker were assembled in a facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Most mobile devices are made overseas, so the fact that the Moto X was being put together in the U.S. was a big deal. Unfortunately, it looks like the Moto X will soon drop its “Assembled in the USA” branding.

Motorola has confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that it will close its Texas-based assembling facility by the end of 2014. “What we found was that the North American market was exceptionally tough,” Motorola President Rick Osterloh explained. The facility currently employs 700 workers, but at one point it housed 3800 employees.

Of course, Moto X production won’t shut down completely when the Texas facility goes offline. A Motorola spokesperson said that the Moto X will continue to be produced in countries like China and Brazil.

While being assembled in the USA isn’t a feature that really affects the Moto X user experience, it’s still kind of a big deal. As I said before, most other devices are made overseas, and being assembled in the US helped Motorola to get units to buyers quickly and could also instill a sense of patriotism in buyers.

It’s also worth pointing out that while Lenovo recently agreed to acquire Motorola from Google, Moto’s Rick Osterloh says that the decision to close the Texas plant was made independent of the Lenovo deal.

What do you think of this news? Are you disappointed that the Moto X will no longer be “Assembled in the USA?”

source: androidandme