Motorola Responds to Moto 360 $249 Pricing

Yesterday, we noticed that Motorola, through a contest, had placed an approximate retail value on their upcoming smartwatch, the Moto 360. At $249, most of us considered the price to be quite consumer-friendly and had already begun shuffling cash aside for the minute Motorola told us we could buy one.

But is $249 an accurate price? Motorola took to Google+ to suggest that we should not consider $249 to be the suggested retail price, even though the number is the “approximate retail value.”

Here is the quote:

Thanks for your excitement around our Moto 360 Design Face-Off contest! We want to make clear that the “Approximate Retail Value” (ARV) indicated in our rules is included for tax purposes only and should not be interpreted as the suggested retail price of the Moto 360 when it becomes available for purchase.

I’ll just say this – when you hold a contest, you have to give an approximate value to your prize by law. You can’t just make up a random price, especially when you consider the fact that the price is listed for tax purposes. We mentioned this yesterday, but the price is certainly in the ballpark of where it will be at the time of launch. In other words, the Moto 360 could be slightly lower or higher when it hits retail shops.

Will it be $199? Maybe. Will it be $299? Maybe. Will it end up at $249. Potentially. Just keep in mind that Motorola isn’t going to give the Moto 360 a value of $249 if they do not plan on setting the suggested retail price with the vicinity.

For reference, in past contests involving Motorola devices, we saw ARVs for the DROID X and BIONIC at $569.99 and $589.99, respectively. The BIONIC ended up being $699 off-contract, which is completely ridiculous and outside of the norm. The DROID X was actually $569 off-contract when it launched.

How much would you pay at max, for the Moto 360?

Via:  +Michal Tajchert | reddit