Motorola delays the foldable Razr, states supply issues

As far as foldable smartphones go, the track record for announcements and successful launches has been far from encouraging. We all remember Samsung announcing the Galaxy Fold, withdrawing review units, delaying the launch, announcing it again, still reporting issues…and Huawei's Mate X has not hit the markets yet, but hopes are high for that one.

The one other company that is ready with its foldable is Motorola with the Razr. The smartphone is all set to hit stories for $1,500 in the US but the company has now taken a step back. Motorola announced that they are delaying the launch of the foldable Razr since the demand for the device has outstripped its supply predictions.

Announced in November, the foldable Razr was supposed to be available for pre-orders in December and ship in January. Motorola had previously said that the device would go on sale in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Australia.

"Motorola has decided to adjust Razr's presale and launch timing to better meet consumer demand. We are working to determine the appropriate quantity and schedule to ensure that more consumers have access to Razr at launch," the Lenovo Group said in a statement.

Motorola has not announced yet when the smartphone is going to go on sale now, but they have said that they expect a "significant shift" from their original launch timeline.

"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. Motorola has decided to adjust Razr's presale and launch timing to better meet consumer demand. We are working to determine the appropriate quantity and schedule to ensure that more consumers have access to Razr at launch," Motorola told Gizmodo in a statement.

However, this seems to be something Motorola had been hoping for. Motorola President Sergio Buniac had told Bloomberg in an interview earlier this year that he had hoped for "a little more demand than supply".

At least that part of Buniac's wish has come true, it seems. The foldable Razr has generated enough excitement thanks to the smartphone being a perfect reboot of the iconic original model we had seen in the mid-2000s. The Razr runs the Android OS and has touchscreens both inside and outside - the best of the past and the present.

Motorola has not blamed technical issues for the delay, unlike Samsung. However, this pushback could swing both ways for the company. While the 'delay' in itself does not look 'good' for the company, like it hadn't for Samsung and Huawei, that it is not for a technical reason is encouraging, clearly there are no design flaws that need to be addressed here.

Also, with everyone in the tech space preparing for CES 2020, delaying the launch of the Razr might just work in Motorola's favour.

The foldable Razr comes with a 6.2-inch flexible P-OLED display and at $1,500 it is cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate X. However, it comes with the Snapdragon 710 SoC and a 2,510mAh battery - both these specs are weaker than what you get on the Samsung (Snapdragon 855, 4,380mAH battery) and the Huawei (Kirin 980, 4,500mAh battery) foldable smartphones.

(With agency inputs)