Motorola Shipping 100,000 Moto X Units from Texas Plant

The first U.S. made phone is being shipped out to various carriers at 100,000 units a week from a plant near Dallas.

Google Inc. is trying to bring back Motorola, now called Motorola Mobility by teaming up with Flextronics in making the first ever U.S. made phone. The Moto X, hailed as the only smartphone assembled in the U.S., can be customized according to the user's taste.

AT&T offers its clients the ability to design their very own Moto X smartphone through the MotoMaker. The MotoMaker allows users to choose back, front and accent colors, select storage size and features and customize matching accessories.

Users of the smartphone can choose from pre-existing colors and designs which can either be woven black or woven white. Both colors are available at Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Verizon and AT&T.

Although the Texas plant assembling Moto X reportedly has a 100,000 count in weekly output, the number of standard units and customized units assembled has not been mentioned. According to a report, Motorola Mobility's CEO, Dennis Woodside only said that the "custom orders were substantial" and that the company was profiting from it.

The Moto X' price starts at $199.99 with a 2-year contract. Initial concerns for the "made in U.S.A." smartphone included a heavier price tag as labor costs in the U.S. is significantly higher than that in China. The average hourly wage of workers in the U.S. is $12 to $14 compared to the $4 hourly wage in China.

The Moto X manufacturing Texas plant currently has 2,500 workers operating 14 lines. The plant adding 6 more lines by October, says the Star Telegram. Employees of the plant work in two 12-hour shifts as of the moment. The plant operates everyday, 7 days a week.

Eric Schmidt, the Chairman of Google, believes that the plant's success in manufacturing 100,000 handsets in a week proved a good start in making U.S. made phones possible.

"American workers are ready for advanced manufacturing, complex tasks, reasonably sophisticated working environments and the kind of stuff we're trying to do. We know it because it's what we have here," he said.