EXCLUSIVE: Yesterday we had two Motorola X stories, the first one seemed to be debunked as inaccurate rumour (if not complete garbage) fairly quickly, and the second was picked up and run by a few other news sources as well, but regardless of the coverage, the second story we thought had some merit.
Before you read further, please note our disclaimer: This is firmly in the rumour file. While the information is quite specific, we have been unable to independently verify it. Accordingly, make of this what you will — we can neither confirm, nor disprove, what we’ve been told, and while we ordinarily might not report such things, we thought this worthy enough to carry on. -Ed.
Well, it seems that same source — well placed within Motorola’s Australian operations — has found out some more information for Ausdroid, and the news is not looking good. Not if you’re interested in seeing the Motorola X in Australia, that is.
Yesterday, we sought confirmation of the information we received from our anonymous source — something to substantiate what we had been told. In response to that request for information, we’ve been told the following:
- All hard copy information regarding the Motorola X is being gathered up in Motorola’s offices in Australia, and being (a) destroyed, or (b) returned to the US. Motorola doesn’t want this information hanging around in Australia.
- Why? Because the Motorola X won’t be launched here. It seems that Telstra isn’t interested in the product and (seemingly) doesn’t believe it can deliver the numbers that Motorola wants — to refresh your memories, Motorola wants a commitment to sell 25,000 handsets, and Telstra has apparently only committed to 15,000.
- All Motorola Australia staff have been instructed by Motorola managing director for Australia New Zealand and Pacific, Timo Brouwer, to delete all emails regarding the X Phone project and to place all hard-copy materials in the conference room at Motorola’s Melbourne HQ to be destroyed.
- Our source claims that emails referring to the Motorola X have been remotely deleted.
- Telstra have apparently told Motorola to announce the Motorola X won’t be coming to Australia once the official launch of the handset has occurred.
- In lieu of the Motorola X, it seems Australia might be getting a phone known as the DVX, a quad core device but on the cheaper scale of things in other respects. This device — possibly the one that The Verge wrote about earlier today — is rumoured to be a multi-carrier mid-range handset, rather than a Telstra exclusive top-shelf handset.
We have to admit, the ‘slash-and-burn’ within Motorola of any information — hard copy or electronic — seems a little bit odd, and perhaps over the top. Moreso, why would Telstra be telling Motorola to specifically announce that the Motorola X would not be coming to Australia? Not a common tactic. A few things don’t quite add up, but then again, we understand there might be quite some animosity flying around following this apparent breakdown between the two companies.
Our source tells us that things have definitely taken on a weird feeling in Motorola at the moment, with the prime handset under development not coming to the local market, being replaced instead by a multi-carrier non-exclusive handset later in the year (as late as Q4).
We haven’t any verification of this, except to say that our source has been fairly reliable in the past. You’re welcome to take what you need from our bag of salt, but if there’s even a little bit of truth to this story, then it’s undoubtedly a pretty miserable time in Motorola Australia at the moment.
