Lenovo owned Motorola is delaying the launch of the foldable Razr smartphone in North America, saying demand for the $1,500 device has outstripped its supply predictions.
The handset, which was announced in November, was supposed to become available for pre-order in December and begin shipping to customers in January.
In a statement the company said, “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 company added.
Motorola declined to say when the Razr would go on sale, but said it does not anticipate a ‘significant shift’ from the original launch timeline. In an interview with Bloomberg News earlier this year, Motorola President Sergio Buniac said he hoped for ‘a little bit extra’ demand over supply.
That said, Motorola did not blame technical issues for its delay. Many other companies including Samsung have struggled to launch foldable devices on time owing to issues with screens failing. Motorola design chief Ruben Castano at the time of announcement of the device had said, “We feel like we’ve really developed a robust solution.”
The foldable Razr smartphone looks pretty similar to the original model from the early 2000s, but runs Google’s Android operating system and features touchscreens both inside and out. The company previously said the phone would also go on sale in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Australia, but it did not reveal any launch information for those regions.
