Texas facility assembles first smartphones in United States
Texas became a pioneer in the smartphone industry on Tuesday when Gov. Rick Perry celebrated the grand opening of Flextronics’ new manufacturing facility that will provide final assembly and customization of the first smartphone designed, engineered and assembled in the United States.
The phone, Motorola Mobility’s Moto X, will be produced in the new facility in Ft. Worth, Tex.
“Make no mistake: Flextronics and Motorola could have put this facility anywhere in the world, but they chose Texas,” Perry said. “One of the reasons Texas excels at creating jobs and new technology is that we free people from over taxation, over regulation and over litigation so they can focus on doing their best work. By freeing people to create, experiment and innovate, we truly bring out their best. And they bring out the best in Texas.”
Google CEO Eric Schmidt also attended the opening, as Motorola Mobility is a Google company that designs and manufactures smartphones, tablets and wireless accessories.
Motorola originally said the facility would create 2,000 jobs but Perry said Tuesday that it will mean 2,500 new jobs statewide. He said manufacturing employment statewide has grown more than 7 percent since 2010.
Perry said Texas leads the nation in the total value of shipments manufactured goods and comes in second for the total number of manufacturing jobs. In addition, computer and electronic product manufacturing is a top exporting industry in Texas, which has contributed to it being ranked as the number one exporting state for 11 years in a row by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
