Motorola delays local RAZR launch until March

Motorola's reinvented RAZR was set to go on sale today, but the company instead announced that its first foldable smartphone will not be hitting shelves until mid-to-late March. Motorola is attributing the delay to the Coronavirus.

"The situation in China is inevitably impacting the launch and availability of the Motorola RAZR," said GM Sales APAC for Mature Markets in a statement. "Most of our factories in China have reopened and are operational, albeit on a limited basis due to health, public transportation and travel limitations. The remaining factories located in the Hubei region, will open in line with the policies of the respective regional government."

While Motorola hasn't provided a concrete shipping date for the RAZR, the JB Hi-Fi expects the $2,699 foldable to be available from March 17. JB Hi-Fi and Motorola's online store are the only two retailers that have been taking RAZR pre-orders. Telstra is set to be the only telco ranging the phone, but it has yet to detail availability.

The RAZR's delays coincide with concerns about durability. US-based tech publication Input reported that the screen on its device started peeling at the fold, while CNET found the phone broke after 27,000 folds. For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Fold broke after 120,000 folds in the same experiment.

Alex Choros

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Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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