Motorola will sell its first folding phone, probably the Razr, this summer

Motorola jumps in foldable phones. And that is probably the case with one of the most iconic names in the business.

Motorola, a unit of China 's consumer electronics giant Lenovo, plans to sell its foldable smartphone during the summer, according to a person familiar with the company' s plans. The person said that the design would be different from the Samsung Galaxy Fold, which debuted last week, or the Huawei Mate X, which was presented at the MWC Barcelona Show on Sunday.

The device is almost certainly a revival of the Razr brand, which, according to the Wall Street Journal, would come back with a price of $ 1,500. Engadget confirmed Wednesday that the phone would arrive.

The summer launch clearly sits between the launch of the Galaxy Fold, scheduled for April 26, and that of Mate X, which should be launched around the middle of the year, and highlights the emerging trend of folding phones. The devices sparked a lot of excitement and made us talk about a reinvigorated MWC at a time when the interest in phones was starting to ripen.

Unlike the Galaxy Fold or Mate X, which unfolds into larger screens, the Razr's design, based on the patents of a patent filing discovered by the 91Mobiles blog, turns into a smaller device like the Razr d & # 39; origin.

The design has certain advantages, including the protection of the screen once it is folded. If it mimics the original phone, it will also be much more compact. But we do not know if consumers want to put away their screen. Samsung and Huawei are banking on those who prefer the big screen option.

the Razr of origin was one of the most recognizable brands and has contributed to the success of Motorola for years during the era of Flip phone. The ultra-slim phone was launched at the exorbitant $ 500 price of Cingular Wireless (now AT & T). It was the most popular phone in history, with more than 50 million devices sold within two years of its debut.

Motorola, however, has not been able to capitalize on the success of the Razr and has fallen further behind as the industry evolves towards more sophisticated phones. Google bought Motorola in 2012 and then resold two years later to Lenovo. Motorola has largely made its mark on well-equipped business phones like the Moto G Franchise and his Moto Z franchise, which is scalable at 5G via a Moto Mod attachment.

Now, Lenovo has a chance to reinvigorate the Motorola brand with the Razr once again.

The story was published on February 27 at 5:25 pm PT.

Updated February 28 at 4 pm PDT: To include additional details about earlier phones.