Motorola Razr 2 Might Not Be Coming This Year After All
Although it shared the foldable limelight with Motorola earlier this year, it seems that Samsung might be the only one left on stage this year. It's expected to unveil not just one but two foldable phones in less than two months. And while it's not the only major smartphone manufacturer competing in that space, a new rumor claims that Motorola might be out of the picture at least until 2021.
Motorola made a huge gamble when it resurrected the Razr brand as its first foldable phone. The clamshell form factor has been one of the many options thrown around in patents and design concepts but it was Motorola that finally took the risk to actually make one. The idea and the name were popular but the implementation left much to be desired, especially when it was placed side-by-side the cheaper Galaxy Z Flip a month or so later.
That said, it wasn't totally unexpected for a first-gen product and the Motorola Razr 2 was expected to be the company's "fix". Among other things, this second stab at a foldable clamshell would run on a Snapdragon 765, solving not only the performance criticism of the first model as well as its lack of 5G support.
Motorola's second foldable phone was expected to debut sometime this year but that might not be the case. Display Supply Chain Consultants CEO Ross Young claims that the phone would be delayed a quarter, pushing it back to 2021. No reason other than COVID-19 was given though it could be due to various causes, including low yield rates for flexible screens.
We hearing that the Motorola Razr 2 is delayed a quarter due to COVID-19. Not likely available until 2021.
— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) June 18, 2020
Of course, one uncorroborated rumor doesn't make it true and it's too early in the year to count Motorola out. Given global circumstances, however, launching a foldable phone around the $1,400 mark is already a huge gamble in itself, let alone one that will have to compete with the full might of Samsung's marketing engine.