Motorola announces a new Razr phone with a 6.2" touchscreen display that folds like a clamshell, launching in January on Verizon in the US for $1,500

The Razr returns — The Razr is back, but now it's an Android smartphone that can fold in half. Motorola has officially announced its much-rumored …

The Verge 2019-11-14 Chaim Gartenberg

Context & Ripple Effects

The announcement closes a rumor cycle that ran all year: sources described a Lenovo-Verizon partnership to revive the Razr with a foldable screen back in January, and Motorola confirmed in February that its foldable would be a Razr revival. Today's reveal makes it official hardware rather than leaks.

What matters beyond nostalgia is the structure of the deal: a $1,500 price point and a US launch exclusive to Verizon put the first mainstream clamshell foldable behind one carrier, echoing how the original Razr rode carrier distribution to mass-market status.

First-order effects

Verizon gains an exclusive US flagship for January, giving it a differentiation lever against rivals' lineups during the post-holiday quarter.
Motorola converts a year of leaked prototypes into a shippable product, but at $1,500 it enters as a halo device priced above most slab flagships.

Second-order effects

The $1,500 entry price effectively sets the opening bar for clamshell foldables, pressuring any competitor entering the category to justify a comparable premium or undercut it quickly.
Carrier exclusivity pushes other US carriers to chase their own foldable launches to avoid ceding the novelty-hardware narrative to Verizon.

Third-order effects

The trajectory across the related coverage — a second-gen model at $1,399 and a $999 Razr Plus by 2023 — suggests the foldable premium compresses each generation, moving the category from luxury early adopters toward mid-premium mainstream pricing.
If brand revivals keep outperforming new naming schemes, expect more manufacturers to mine discontinued form factors as differentiated entries in a saturated slab-phone market.

The trend: Foldable phones are following a classic premium-to-mainstream curve, with nostalgic brands like Razr serving as the wedge that carries the form factor down the price ladder.

Discussion

@mcwm Mike Murphy on x
here's my big thing with this that I need to spend more time with the device to see if it's a real problem: the screen *lifts off* the device, and seems super easy to break Moto tells me it's confident it won't in normal use tho https://qz.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@dcseifert @dcseifert on x
the new Motorola Razr looks wild, but there are many things about it that make me go 🤔 also they didn't really have to go full retro with the single carrier exclusivity, some things are better left in the past https://www.theverge.com/...
@chainotcoffee @chainotcoffee on x
I miss my RAZR2 V8, the flip phone itself and the melodramatic effect of slapping it shut ... https://twitter.com/...
@ow Owen Williams on x
On one hand this is so outrageously cool....on the other hand I don't think anyone should/will buy this https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@backlon Dieter Bohn on x
Um they definitely didn't mess up the hinge and screen? No crease? Ay yay yay. https://twitter.com/...
@rossrubin Ross Rubin on x
I'm intrigued by the shape of the new @motorola #razr2019. Greater width helps support a full-screen smartphone experience as well as the front display, but it makes it look more squat/squarish when folded versus the classic flip.
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
Idle observation: Apple has half a dozen or more different folding phone prototypes in the lab. (Google might do as well). They might even plan to sell one, in a couple of years.
@ideafaktory Steve Faktor on x
Razor is what Motorola executives will be using to slash their wrists if they don't find a way to lower the price below $700 or 800. https://twitter.com/...
@ow Owen Williams on x
Foldable smartphones are a case study in dying businesses trying to revive sales with nostalgia
@steimer Kristine Steimer on x
why isn't it pink https://twitter.com/...
@mgsiegler M.G. Siegler on x
This is cool. But it would be 1000x cooler if there wasn't some weird screen flash/glitch upon opening. https://twitter.com/...
@techledes Connie Guglielmo on x
Exclusive: 'We see it as a franchise," Motorola President Sergio Buniac said in an interview with ⁦@RogerWCheng⁩ ahead of today's launch of the resurrected, reinvented Motorola Razr. Tip ⁦@Techmeme⁩ https://www.cnet.com/...
@cgartenberg Chaim Gartenberg on x
Oh one last Razr thing: Motorola added a secret “Retro Razr” mode! It is basically a skinned Android launcher and it is nostalgic as hell in the best way possible. https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@themrmobile Michael Fisher on x
Some great background here for anyone interested in some historical Razr context https://twitter.com/...

Chronicles