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Motorola's RAZR Is Returning As a $1,500 Folding Smartphone (theverge.com)
A new report from The Wall Street Journal says the Motorola RAZR might be making a comeback as a $1,500 foldable screen smartphone, and it could launch as early as February. The Verge reports: The original RAZR was one of the most iconic cellphones ever made, and it seems that Motorola's parent company Lenovo is looking to cash in on that branding with an updated foldable phone (similar to the one that Samsung has teased for later this year). Per the WSJ, the new RAZR will be exclusive to Verizon in the U.S. with a planned February launch, although the device is still in testing and details have yet to be finalized.
Also unknown is nearly any concrete information about the phone. There's no word yet on things like screen size, specifications, or even form factor. Will the revived RAZR just borrow the name but use a more traditional landscape folding display? Will Lenovo follow the original RAZR design and have some sort of super long vertically folding screen? According to the WSJ report, Lenovo is hoping to manufacture over 200,000 of the new RAZRs, which may seem optimistic for a $1,500 luxury smartphone. But considering that the (admittedly much cheaper) RAZR V3 model sold 130 million units over its lifespan, if lightning does manage to strike twice, that goal might not be so hard to hit.
Also unknown is nearly any concrete information about the phone. There's no word yet on things like screen size, specifications, or even form factor. Will the revived RAZR just borrow the name but use a more traditional landscape folding display? Will Lenovo follow the original RAZR design and have some sort of super long vertically folding screen? According to the WSJ report, Lenovo is hoping to manufacture over 200,000 of the new RAZRs, which may seem optimistic for a $1,500 luxury smartphone. But considering that the (admittedly much cheaper) RAZR V3 model sold 130 million units over its lifespan, if lightning does manage to strike twice, that goal might not be so hard to hit.
That is more than my monthly total mortgage payment.
that's way too shiny a toy for most people.
Since no information is available we'll have to wait to see if it has a removable battery, sd slot, or headphone jack...
... two days ago: https://mobile.slashdot.org/st...
Luxury industry is (still) booming (especially in China), and everyone wants a slice of the pie. But since you won't buy hundreds of RAZRs even if you could afford it (barring a Imelda Marcos-type pathology), this industry will dry out as the upper class becomes smaller and smaller (while its individuals become richer and richer).
At the end, it's crash-bang.
nuff said
This double post is proof that, at least on Slahdot, lightning may actually strike twice, and usually does.
shouldn't be too hard to find 200.000 idiots with too much money on this planet.
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
It's a good thing I held onto my trusty old RAZR. Everything old is new again! W00t!
But motorola Android One phones are the replacement for the Google Nexus line. No crapware added by the manufacturer and Google updates android straight, not waiting for the manufacturer. So would buy a Moto X1 or something but this one is too late to the party. Average sale price of cell phones are trending down, not up.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
why charge only 1500 when they could try 150000? same with medicine - my medicine used to cost $25 per month - it's now $1000 per month which I don't/can't buy - they should also raise the price of my medicine to $100000 per month so the can get even more of my no money
why cant we delete dupe articles?
This isn't a phone for anywhere else but Asia. This is something to go after the high end Chinese market, which isn't saturated, and where people there are still new to phones and will happily pay $1500 for a device, as it looks cool and boosts their social credit score, as they bought domestically.
I make it a policy to never judge before seeing a device. Maybe it will be brilliant but I have my doubts based on what I've seen so far. If it's like Samsung Galaxy F or Royole Flexpai then they shouldn't bother. That form factor is impractical and doesn't appear to be very robust. (it looks terribly easy to break if you put it in a pocket) I think the basic idea of a device that can morph from a phone size to small tablet size is a solid concept but it will all be about the execution. I don't think the bendy screens will be the best way to get there but I'm willing to be proven wrong.
And $1500? It better be an AMAZING device to justify that price point.
I think dusting off the RAZR nameplate is idiotic. The device shares no heritage or design with the original and anyone who is nostalgic for the original RAZR never really had to live with one. It was fine for the day but was more flash than performance. Aside from the eye catching design it was an entirely unremarkable phone in a market full of equally unremarkable phones. Relying on the hope for nostalgia from a 20 year old dumb phone to market a (supposedly) cutting edge modern smartphone should result in some marketing idiot losing their job.
Like everyone, I had one at the time.
Like everyone, I thought they looked cool.
But I seem to remember not liking the design much. Didn't the edges cut into your hands when open? And I seem to remember something about the side buttons being maddening...
Maybe this rebirth will address physical issues from the past model.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It worked. It is being talked about here and many other forums/news sites. Marketing-wise it is already a success.
It only worked if the name results in actual sales because of the name. Just generating buzz is not successful marketing. Personally I think they are hugely overestimating the appeal of the RAZR brand in today's market. Furthermore you aren't asking whether we are talking about it because of the RAZR brand or because of the fact that it's foldable or because of the price or something else.
Brand confusion is a real thing too. Think about how Microsoft has had problems when they've used the Windows brand on devices that aren't what we expect. Windows RT is a prime example.
I can't think of any single (realistic) feature that will make a phone be worth that price. This phone better be something out of Science Fiction.
I'm struggling as well. I think you are right that the technology just isn't there yet for the things needed to seriously blow our minds. Would love to be wrong of course. I think it's just going to be an overpriced me-too device made to keep the Motorola brand quasi-relevant rather than a serious attempt at a serious device.
Does that mean that a superior krzr (k1m) will suddenly appear with only the necessary features done well, good battery life, and a phone-like form factor that is actually conducive to making and receiving calls?
No?
I am disappoint.
Does anyone else think that, from a 2019 point of view, the really distinctive feature of the RAZR was they keypad?
This is one of the reasons why I don't get this. How do you make a RAZR style keypad desirable and relevant to a smartphone in 2019? Physical keypads have famously become rare, and are mostly features of long-gone phones.
Next up is the phone OS. The RAZR OS is a non-starter in 2019. OK, so Android seems like the only logical replacement (I'll summarily dismiss Sailfish, WebOS, Windows Phone, Ubuntu Phone, etc.). What is the connection then, to the RAZR? A phone wallpaper?
Finally there's the price. $1500 for a smartphone is simply too much money. Apple is having trouble selling the iPhone X at price points above $1000; and if Apple can't sell at that price point, I don't think Motorola/Lenovo can either.
There's only one way I can see this working, as a vanity phone. Bling the crap out of it, encrust it with Swarovsky crystals, maybe do custom case designs, sell it as a low-volume, high style (and high margin) phone. Hell, maybe set it with actual diamonds and raise the price even more! Do a marketing deal with Luis Vuitton, or Prada, or Givenchy. You need style cred with this play so the name brand association matters.
But at a $1500 price point, it will sell in the DOZENS!
At a $500 price point, it would sell millions...
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
$1500.. for a device that will most likely have its battery glued inside, meaning it's designed to require an expensive repair every 18-24 months.
Hard pass.
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
This is awesome!!! $1500 for dumb phuck flip phone.
Is a goddamned folding phone
Wow, this is awesome