The Apple Fold could cap off the Motorola Razr Fold’s big moment

Motorola is expected to launch a range of Razr clamshell foldable phones on Wednesday, as well as its first book-shaped foldable phone. His name is simple Motorola Razr Fold It will compete with other similar devices such as Galaxy Z Fold 7but it may only be a few months away in the spotlight – later this year, Apple’s long-awaited iPhone fold It could make its debut and steal the spotlight from Motorola.

While Motorola has been competing with Samsung for annual foldable phones for years, it has stayed away from competing in the book-shaped foldable phone space until now. This makes the Motorola Razr Fold a fresh new entry for the phone maker, and CNET’s chief technology correspondent Abrar Al-Hiti has found it to be a strong competitor to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 from her time with it at MWC 2026.

“The Fold is an important device for Motorola,” said Francisco Geronimo, vice president of customer device research at IDC. “Following significant growth in the foldable market almost entirely through clamshell phones, Motorola is now making its first move into book-style foldable devices, a format that Apple is expected to enter later this year.”

With premium specs, this could help Motorola continue to grow its share of the North American foldable device market, which could otherwise exacerbate the problem. It rose to 44% in 2025According to Counterpoint Research (up from 30% the previous year). Geronimo said that according to IDC data. Motorola has about 50% of the foldable device market in the United States, about 55% in Latin America, and has increased its global share from about 6% to nearly 14%.

With new Razs and the debut of the Fold, this should be Motorola’s year to take on Samsung. But as often happens in the mobile phone market, all eyes are on what Apple does. While rumors have swirled for years that a foldable iPhone is in the works, more evidence than ever suggests it will debut later in 2026 (presumably in the September release window alongside other iPhones).

There is a strange causal relationship between Motorola and Apple: Motorola claims 25% of people who buy Razr clamshell foldable devices are former iPhone users. When the Motorola Razr Fold is unveiled, it could convert more people who are tired of waiting for Apple’s foldable phone. That is if they don’t wait a little longer to find out if their long-awaited iOS foldable phone will launch last September. Some big iPhone Fold rumors could convince naysayers to stand firm.

Right now, we still don’t know much about the iPhone Fold – starting with its name, which rumors have also suggested could be called the iPhone Fold. iPhone Ultra Or iPhone Flip. Rumors of the latter name circulated when Apple was supposed to launch a foldable device first, but the latest leaks strongly favor a book-shaped foldable device like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Motorola Razr Fold. The rest of the details are vague, as recent leaks of the CAD design file indicate that it will be a wide-format foldable like the original. Google Pixel Fold Which was launched in 2023.

In contrast, the Motorola Razr Fold is a well-known phone. CNET’s Al-Hiti kept it, and found that the foldable device is slightly larger than the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold (6.6-inch external display, 8.1-inch internal display) and somewhere between the two in weight (243 grams). It has a 50MP triple rear camera system, a 32MP selfie camera on the cover and a 20MP selfie camera on the inside. It has a massive 6,000 mAh battery, 80W wired charging, and an impressive 50W wireless charging. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor and has an IP48 and IP49 rating for high water and moderate dust resistance.

“Both displays are brighter than any foldable competitor, the 6,000 mAh battery outperforms the competition, while stylus support via the Moto Pen Ultra fills the gap that Samsung itself left open by dropping S Pen support from the Galaxy Z Fold 7,” Geronimo said.

This makes the Motorola Razr Fold a safer bet, though not entirely safe, since it will be a first-generation device. I remember trying out the original Motorola Razr phone in late 2019 and seeing its foldable screen leave a gap between the screen and the phone when closed or opened. The phone industry has come a long way in developing foldable displays since then, and Motorola in particular has continued to improve its own technology – I don’t expect air gaps in the Motorola Fold, especially with this IP resistance rating.

Even if the Motorola Razr Fold steals the spotlight due to rumors of an iPhone Fold, Apple’s first-generation foldable will be a largely unknown quantity. Motorola, Samsung, and even Google have improved durability and design over the years. It’s not yet clear how close the iPhone Fold will be to its competitors, but it will need to live up to Apple’s famous commitment to design excellence. As some rumors have suggested, Apple delayed production of the iPhone Fold while it sought to remove the screen crease above the foldable phone’s hinge, and Samsung screen concepts Which was shown off at CES 2026 suggests that the design wrinkles may have been worked out. (It is said that Apple Eavesdropping on Samsung For foldable screens.)

So Motorola will have its time in the sun. It remains to be seen whether Apple’s foldable phone will arrive, and if it does, what form it will be in. The ultimate winner will be all the curious foldable phone fans who’ve been waiting for the right device to take the plunge – and this year, there are more of them than ever to convince flat phone owners to take a bend.