In the last half a decade or so, Motorola hasn't been able to retain the kind of market share that it once had in the Indian upper end handsets. Its owner Google had completely shut down the shop in the country post acquisition. However, the company may have its plans in place to penetrate the market once again with its entry-level Android based smartphone, the Moto G. The phone will be launched on the 13th of this month. There are hints that the phone may be made available to India as soon as it is launched.
If you go to the live webcast page of Motorola, you have the option of signing up and receive relevant newsletter and updates. Motorola’s twitter updates say hello in multiple languages, including Hindi, which further confirms the probabilities that we expressed earlier in the article. One of these tweets read, "Time to say hola, olá, g’day, hallo, bonjour, namaste?, hello to #MotoG."
Since we are speculating an India launch, it is imperative to discuss the relevant features and specifications. Although, the company has not said much about it but here is whatever little we know on this front-
Display- 4.5-inch 720p display with Gorilla Glass protection
Processor- 1.2GHz quad-core processor
Camera- 5-megapixel rear and 1.3-megapixel front facing cameras
Connectivity- Bluetooth 4.0
The device will be available for less than Rs 15,000 price point. The most interesting aspect of the launch will be how Google develops the rest of eco-system to cater to the consumer needs. Currently, there is no distribution channel or after sales network to convince consumers to buy the device. One of the options could be to go Nexus way and sell the phones online apart from finding strategic local partners who have the capacities and competence to do so. The other way could be to use the partner model for short term while developing its own network over a longer time frame. Whatever happens, let's sit on the fence till the company has complete information to share with us.
