Nexus 6 Rebranded as the Moto X Pro in Motorola’s Return to China

[Geoff Openshaw]

Under Google ownership, Motorola Mobility saw its presence in China diminish exponentially. At the time, Google was pushing to refocus Motorola on the US market and on US manufacturing, and the result was a nearly 80% reduction in Motorola’s Chinese workforce and a borderline indifference to the Chinese market.

Now, with Motorola under Chinese firm Lenovo’s control, Motorola is back in China in a big way, announcing the arrival of its Moto X, Moto X Pro, and Moto G phones for the Chinese market.

The Moto X and G are exactly as you have known them. One is a customizable flagship. The other is one of the best budget smartphones available. So what is this Moto X Pro, then? It’s pretty clearly a rebranded Nexus 6. Per Motorola:

Designed by Motorola and providing the latest Android, Moto X Pro gives you bigger images and better sound with a 6-inch Quad HD display and front-facing stereo speakers for immersive sound. A 13-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization takes high-quality photos in all lighting. Top it off with the latest 2.7GHz Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 805 processor and a 3220 mAh battery that delivers more than 24 hours of power.
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Yep. Those seem like Nexus 6 specs to us. Interestingly, though, the Moto X Pro doesn’t appear to have the customization options available to the regular X. This makes sense from a production line standpoint, of course, as it’s economically dubious to offer X-style customizations on what really is just an assembly line Nexus 6.

But Nexus users don’t expect customization. Rather, they expect a good phone that can be purchased unlocked and at a fair price. By rebranding the Nexus as Moto X Pro, however, Motorola is setting up the Pro not as a Nexus alternative to the X, but as a superior device in the same family, yet without some of the aesthetic bells and whistles of the “lesser” X.

There’s no word yet on price, and it will be interesting to see if the price difference between the X and X Pro is similar to the X and Nexus 6, or if the X Pro will be promoted as a more premium device with a sticker to match.

Source: Motorola


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