Motorola CEO Says Customers Are Weary Of Two-Year Device Contracts

 

 

The biggest shopping time of the year is upon us, we race for deals and bargains, and some are worth it and some aren’t. Motorola knew this, but after their discount on unlocked Moto X devices overloaded their systems on Cyber Monday, they realized there is a big market for unlocked devices.

If you were shopping from home Cyber Monday 2013, you may have seen or heard that Motorola was offering the Moto X unlocked, with $150 off the selling price. The problem was that Motorola wasn’t prepared for the amount of people who would want to take advantage of this deal. So their servers couldn’t hold all the weight and Motorola had to shut down the deal. Though that wasn’t the end of it. They turned around to offer a set amount of $150 vouchers for the same device, so the same deal, just set up a bit differently. Also with a set capacity for the party. According to Motorola CEO, Dennis Woodside, told YouTuber Marques Brownlee that those vouchers reached the tens of thousands in under 4 minutes.

Woodside continued to let us know that on Monday 12/9/2013, they will offer more of the $150 vouchers. Again, on a first come first serve basis, so they will most likely be gone just as quick. 

This whole experience has opened the eyes of CEO Dennis, “There’s clearly a demand for devices that are not tied to a contract, at prices that are reasonable,” Well yeah, of course there is. The way we have purchased smartphones or devices in general is rapidly changing. Unlocked and dev editions, the release of contracts by carriers, the mobile world is adapting to the times. No longer do we fall for the two-year contract price, and walk out thinking we got a real great deal.

This sale from Motorola just proves how the times have changed, and how we are tired of two-year lockdown. Though the carriers have caught onto this as well, offering alternatives that may still be cheaper, depending on where you go and how you use it. T-Mobile and the carrier plans may work for some, but it seems like you would need to be trading in your device every 6 months to take full advantage or even buy the phone outright upfront. Maybe AT&T is for you, and the way they are attacking the system. The one thing that remains clear through it all, is that we are looking for a better way to purchase devices.