Motorola has officially launched its latest budget smartphone, the Moto G in India, which will be exclusively sold via online retailers and e-commerce websites.
Post a brief sabbatical, Motorola has now officially made a comeback in India with their highly anticipated Moto G budget smartphone. The price for the 8GB model has been set at Rs 12,499, while the 16GB model will retail at Rs 13,999. In an industry-first in the country, the smartphone device will be exclusively available through online retailers and one such e-commerce giant, Flipkart.com has grabbed the exclusive rights to offer the device on sale – at least for the initial period.
To further cash on the exclusivity factor, Flipkart.com has charted out a range of freebies and discounts on the Moto G. The customers who managed to hit the ‘buy’ button on the day of its launch are entitled to a 70 per cent discount on customizable Moto G covers, Rs 500 off on select eBooks and Rs 1,000 off on clothing and accessories. Also, some lucky buyers could get a 100 per cent cash-back!
Coming back to the specifications of the Moto G, it should be noted that the device on sale in India is a dual-SIM variant, unlike the one sold in the United States. It features a 4.5-inch 720p display and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz and paired with 1GB of RAM. Other features include a 8/16GB internal memory, 5-megapixel rear camera, 1.2-megapixel front facing camera and a 2,070mAh battery, which Motorola claims provides all day long battery back up.
Connectivity options consist of 3G support and Wi-Fi Bluetooth in addition to dual-SIM card slots. The software installed in the device is the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. However, it is speculated that the Android 4.4.2 KitKat upgrade will be available soon. The update is being rolled out in Malaysia at the moment and so, one can expect it to reach the Indian shores soon.
Budget smartphones calls for budget marketing and distribution network. With that in mind, Motorola is rolling out the Moto G in multiple markets across the globe – with Australia, Malaysia and Dubai being the latest ones – by means of tying up with partners – either retail chains or carriers – rather than setting up exclusive brand stores. Hence, saving tons of cash and passing on some of the benefits to their customers, which of course is getting widely appreciated. That said, the aforementioned strategy is also helping the company gauge the demand for its products and figure out which markets it should focus on as it prepares its strategy for 2015.
Going forward, Motorola mulls setting up a small but effective marketing team in India to represent the brand in the country. As not having a dedicated Motorola team in the market where the product is sold, could have several adverse effects to the brand and raise questions about after-sales services. The said development however, could take up to a few months to become functional in the country.
