Ever since the Motorola Cliq on T-Mobile, most of Motorola’s devices have shipped with one form or another of their custom UI. Back then, it was the heavy and laggy MOTOBLUR, but times have changed and Motorola’s UIs have progressed rapidly. As it turns out, Motorola actually prefers stock Android. The only thing holding them back is the carrier that sells the most of their devices: Verizon.

If you take a look at Verizon over the last year, Motorola’s devices have easily been the most advertised. Watching the Packer’s take down the Texans the other day, Motorola was sponsoring with their new DROID RAZR M. Many consider the Galaxy S III to be Verizon’s flagship handset, but Motorola’s DROID offerings are still ahead in terms of advertisement. Verizon would rather have a custom UI on their DROID phones, where they can showcase their services.

It looks like that as long as Motorola is making money off of Verizon and the DROID brand, their custom UIs will be determined by Verizon. It’s unfortunate, but until Motorola starts shipping more phones on other carriers, it looks like it’s here to stay.

The Verge