Motorola’s all but confirmed it’s making a foldable Phone

Motorola’s all but confirmed it’s working on a foldable phone to take on the Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X.

Motorola vice president and general manager Anthony Barounas made the reveal during a press briefing attended by Trusted Reviews at  MWC 2019. He listed it as a key way Motorola hopes to increase its market share in Europe.

“If you go around the stores today, for me the phones all look the same. It’s difficult to see if it’s a Motorola, or [another brand]. How we differentiate to the consumer, show them something really different, that’s where foldables comes in. And that’s where Motorola also has a very big investment. I can’t say much but we have one franchise that will have a very big impact there,” he said.

The news follows widespread rumours the company was working on a foldable phone carrying its older Razr branding. Barounas didn’t offer any further details about the device, but the company has been patenting a number of different hinge designs for foldable screen devices over the last few years.

Barounas said the strategy was part of a three part strategy for Motorola’s mobile business. He highlighted 5G connectivity and affordability as other key tenets of its device strategy.

“What’s happening in the future? I see three tech waves in the next two years [including foldables]. First wave is growth in the meat segment, by this I mean the €200-400 market. I expect this to grow in Europe a lot. How much I can’t tell you but I can see consumers realising they don’t need to spend €1000 on a phone. This is where G coming. With the Moto G7 that’s what we’re establishing [this]. There’s a shift in the consumer and we need to be part of the wave,” he said.

“The second wave. It’s everywhere. That’s 5G. 5G will be the dominate discussion for at least the next 12 months. We’re there and we’re number one. We are the only one that will introduce it in the US in the coming months with Verizon. We have 5G, we will be really driving that. It’ll be the next big tech wave. Every 10 years you get one that will change everything.”

Related: 5G phones

The company plans to launch a 5G Moto Mod for its Moto Z3 smartphone with Verizon later this year. The company told Trusted Reviews it is working to make the mod work with its older Moto Z2 and potentially even Z1 smartphones as well.

The news follows strong growth from Motorola’s smartphone business. The company posted its first profitable quarter since being bought by Lenovo at the end of last year.

Excited about the idea of a foldable Razr Phone? Let us know on Twitter @TrustedReviews.