Google to spend $500 million on Moto X marketing: Report

The Wall Street Journal is reporting via its sources that Google is expected to allow its Motorola Mobility unit to spend around $500 million on the marketing of Moto X smartphone. The publication also states that the phone is likely to go on sale via all four major telecom operators in United States, partly because of Google’s expected lavish marketing spend on the phone.

Motorola will be using the money to market the smartphone mainly in United States and select overseas markets in Europe. To put the $500 million in perspective, Apple and Samsung spent $333 million and $401 million respectively on advertising their mobile devices in United States last year, claims WSJ via Kantar Media, a unit of WPP PLC.

To remind you, Moto X is going to be the first Motorola smartphone to be fully developed under a Google owned Motorola.

WSJ also adds a few more details about Moto X; here is a quick round-up:

• Less bloatware (pre-installed softwares/ apps)
• Option to customise the front and back of the phone by choosing different colour panels, or add engravings (also reported earlier by ABC News)
• Pricing to remain comparable to Samsung Galaxy S4 and Apple iPhone 5

Source: WSJ