Motorola today indicated it will close the Ft. Worth factory used to assemble custom-designed Moto X handsets by the end of the year.
Motorola opened the plant a year ago and at its peak employed about 3,800 people. The move allowed Motorola to offer four-day turn-around times on Moto X handsets created with its online Moto Maker tool.
According to Motorola’s Rick Osterloh, however, slow sales of the Moto X meant the company never achieved the economy of scale it needed to operate the plant. “What we found was that the North American market was exceptionally tough,” said Osterloh in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Motorola will continue to make the Moto X at facilities located in Brazil and China. Osterloh didn’t say if the Moto Maker tool will vanish along with the Ft. Worth plant.
Lenovo is in the process of acquiring Motorola from Google. The sale is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Lenovo plans to use the Motorola brand on its future smartphones destined for select markets, such as the U.S. and Europe.
