Motorola’s long-rumoured foldable smartphone has been a long time coming, and according to recent reports, we may be waiting just a little while longer.
We took a look at the Motorola Razr last month in an exclusive hands-on in Sydney, and let me tell you, this is a phone you simply cannot wait to touch – but unfortunately, we will have to wait a bit.
In the US, Motorola has issued a statement to the effect that it had decided to adjust the Razr’s pre-sale and launch timing due to higher than anticipated consumer demand:
Since its announcement in November, the new Motorola razr has received unparalleled excitement and interest from consumers. Demand has been high, and as a result, has quickly outgrown supply predictions.
It seems that Motorola wasn’t really taking on board consumer sentiment ahead of the Razr launch if this is true, because every iota of that sentiment would’ve told Motorola that the foldable Razr would be in huge demand.
What was initially going to be a relatively low-key product announcement (potentially limited to the US only) has quickly become an international event, and that alone may drive up product demand.
It seems foldable phones can’t – as yet – be launched without some delay, whether it’s due to construction issues in the case of the Galaxy Fold, or US trade embargoes neutering an otherwise fascinating product in the case of Huawei’s Mate X.
In Motorola’s case, at least, it doesn’t seem as if there’s any engineering issues or trade embargoes to worry about – perhaps just not enough time for the company’s factories to produce enough handsets to meet the significant customer demand they’re now anticipating.
Offering a 6.2-inch foldable display (with 2.7-inch quick-view display on the exterior), the Motorola Razr also includes a 16MP camera that performs well, a power-efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 processor, 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage. It’s not expected to be cheap – with a $1500 US launch price – but regardless of price, that nostalgic flip design is going to be popular.
