Getting customers to maneuver from iOS to Android (or vice versa) is not any straightforward feat, and firms like Samsung and Google have been making an attempt varied methods to persuade customers to make the swap, to a point of success. Motorola could also be considerably of an underdog within the Android area today, however the firm has gone via a significant shift lately to attract extra customers to its model, with smartphone gross sales reaching file highs in 2024. Now, Motorola is seeing the fruits of its labor attain even iPhone customers, and an organization government tells me how the corporate used the success of the Razr to steal iPhone customers away.
A cellphone you possibly can really feel happy with
It’s no secret that I’m an enormous fan of flip telephones, and I really feel just like the Razr has set the usual for what a contemporary flip cellphone needs to be. Not solely does the design stand out by evoking a way of nostalgia and ingenuity (foldables are nonetheless considerably area of interest), however the giant cowl display is exceptionally practical, supporting full app use and selfies from the first digital camera without having to open the cellphone. It’s no surprise iPhone customers, particularly, have an interest within the Razr, in accordance with Nicole Hagen, Motorola’s head of worldwide product advertising and marketing.
I had a chance to interview Hagen throughout Lenovo Tech World 2024, throughout which the corporate revealed some attention-grabbing factors relating to its progress whereas offering a have a look at its upcoming Moto AI options. In our interview, Hagen addressed how Motorola has began leaning into premium units after being extra of a significant participant within the finances area for years.
“We actually began leaning into, from a model perspective, extra premium units,” she mentioned, explaining that “premium” is usually a notion at any worth level, together with extra inexpensive and accessible telephones like Motorola is thought for. “However from a Motorola standpoint, we need to ensure that we will supply these customers a tool that they’ll really feel happy with.”
The 2023 Razr Plus was my first foldable cellphone, and I used to be instantly drawn to it, utilizing it as my main machine for an entire yr. There have been some shortcomings, comparable to battery life, digital camera high quality, and the dearth of notably sturdy water resistance, however that was all addressed with the brand new Razr Plus 2024. Along with a significantly better digital camera and longer-lasting battery, the cellphone brings a fair bigger cowl display at 4 inches and improved software program that enhances the expertise of utilizing the cellphone whereas closed.
Actually, most of my time spent utilizing the cellphone is spent whereas it is closed, and that is the place individuals actually begin to discover, particularly iPhone customers. Typically, after I’m out and about, I’ll get approached by strangers or buddies who’re curious concerning the cellphone. In the event that they’re Android customers, they’ll usually ask if it’s “the Flip,” referring to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip sequence. Nonetheless, iPhone customers usually gained’t trouble making an attempt to guess, and I’ll cheekily reply by exhibiting them the Motorola brand on the again of the cellphone and saying, “It’s the brand new Motorola Razr.”
After all, simply listening to that is sufficient to get a response out of them, particularly in the event that they grew up when the unique Razr was all the fashion. That often prompts extra questions concerning the foldable kind issue and the duvet display, and I’ll fortunately reveal among the options, like utilizing apps on the duvet display, utilizing the exterior show to take selfies, and easily slamming the cellphone shut as if I simply dramatically hung up on somebody.
They’re often fairly impressed with what they see, however that enthusiasm type of simmers when the eventual “nevertheless it’s not an iPhone” remark comes. Nonetheless, I can inform that their curiosity has been piqued, and in accordance with Hagen, no matter Motorola is doing is clearly working.
“We’re seeing, particularly for Razr, loads of the curiosity—loads of the visitors—from the cell perspective, in addition to conversion gross sales, coming from iOS,” she informed me, explaining that it’s about extra than simply the tech, calling the Razr “an attractive accent” that may enable you stand out. “You don’t should sacrifice type for tech, and we’re seeing loads of iOS customers coming over, particularly into the Razr franchise.”
Intelligent advertising and marketing
Android Central’s editor-in-chief, Shruti Shekar, was a long-time iPhone person till not too long ago when she lastly switched to the Pixel 9 Professional. Nonetheless, it was the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 that kickstarted her need to modify again to Android, as she liked the shape issue, the duvet display, and the design decisions. She wrote how Motorola performed to its strengths effectively with the Razr advertising and marketing technique, hitting a steadiness between nostalgic and stylish by utilizing Paris Hilton to assist launch the cellphone whereas additionally utilizing very Gen Z-centric imagery on its social media.
She additionally interviewed former iPhone customers who determined to modify to the brand new Razr, with one saying that it gave him a “degree of awe and pleasure for expertise that I haven’t felt in years.” He identified the nostalgic issue of the Razr and even went as far as to say he wouldn’t contemplate switching again to an iPhone, even when Apple launched a flip cellphone.
Jitesh Ubrani, analysis supervisor for IDC’s worldwide machine trackers, acknowledged the shift we’ve seen with Motorola because it revamped the Razr sequence. “Motorola went from a pioneer cell phone maker to a dominant one to an underdog to probably a frontrunner of the counterculture as Gen Z picks up the model,” he informed Shruti in an interview.
Anshel Sag, a senior analyst at Moor Insights & Technique, agreed, saying that “the Razr sequence is the tip of that spear, and so they appear to be doing the very best there when it comes to advertising and marketing.”
Gen Z enchantment
The cellphone’s design is an enormous a part of the way it’s being acquired, and that is the place Motorola’s partnership with Pantone, a multi-year deal established in 2022, comes into play. In case you discover, the Razr Plus 2024 colour choices don’t embody black or white, that are usually very secure choices for customers. If you would like the most recent flagship Razr, you solely have standout colours to select from, and so they all include a vegan leather-based end on the again, which differs from the usual glass backs you’ll discover on iPhones and different units. Hagen tells me that the partnership positions Motorola as a life-style model, providing great-looking units that can mirror tendencies in trend and equipment.
“We’ve got a excessive diploma of confidence that we are going to be on pattern and have the ability to supply our customers a trending colour, a trending materials, attending end at launch.”
On account of the partnership, Hagen tells me that Motorola has seen loads of curiosity not simply from iPhone customers but in addition from Gen Z, which tends to come back hand-in-hand. Android Central’s senior editor of equipment, Namerah Saud-Fatmi, is essentially the most Gen Z of our employees, and she or he couldn’t assist however gush over the Sizzling Pink Razr Plus 2024. When she requested how the colour connects to the roots of the Razr lineup, Maria Jose Martin, director of North America Advertising at Motorola, defined how the Razr was seen as a “standing image,” type of like how the iPhone is seen in the present day.
“The unique RAZR V3 was one of many first units to turn into a cultural icon. Within the early 2000s, having a Razr was a trend assertion, and a standing image for the period’s prime celebrities and ‘cool children.’ Nonetheless, the machine was by no means simply an adjunct — it introduced technological improvements of its time and actually bridged the hole between trend and expertise.”
The Razr is successful once more
Whereas Hagen didn’t present numbers, it’s clear that Motorola’s technique is pushing the corporate to new heights. A latest report from Counterpoint Analysis exhibits that Motorola achieved its highest smartphone sell-through volumes in a single quarter throughout Q3 2024, which follows a pattern we’ve been seeing with its foldable telephones reaching notable market share numbers.
It undoubtedly helps that the Razr Plus and its cheaper sibling have already seen some unimaginable offers this yr regardless of having simply launched in July, and we’re more likely to see extra when Black Friday rolls round. On the time of writing, you possibly can at present buy the Razr Plus at a $200 low cost, which isn’t even the most affordable we have seen for this unimaginable cellphone.
Throughout the Lenovo Tech World keynote, Luca Rossi, EVP of Lenovo’s Clever Units Group, additionally highlighted Motorola’s file progress. Fueled partially by the Motorola Razr, in addition to the corporate’s flagship Edge units, Motorola is anticipated to double its enterprise by 2026, which is nice for an organization that appeared to teeter on the sting of irrelevance just some years in the past.
Motorola’s method with foldables has been notably completely different from firms like Google, which has targeted its efforts on a larger-screened foldable as a substitute of releasing a less expensive Pixel Flip, or Samsung, which divides its consideration throughout each forms of foldables. Motorola has dabbled in different kind elements as ideas, however the firm is clearly targeted on what works, and Apple is likely to be sensible to concentrate.
So the subsequent time you’re available in the market for a brand new cellphone, whether or not you personal an iPhone or Android, you would possibly need to contemplate selecting up one in every of our favourite flip telephones of the yr. As Hagen mentioned, Motorola is concentrated on constructing a cellphone that customers are proud to have, and I couldn’t be prouder to make use of the Razr Plus 2024.
