Apple's iPhone Duo, unveiled as the company's first foldable, comes as no surprise to those of us at Motorola—and throughout the mobile industry.
The reason is simple: That’s where the growth is.
Industry data shows it is where consumer demand is headed, and many are already there. While the category still represents a relatively small share of the overall smartphone market, the growth trajectory is clear. In North America, foldable shipments grew 28 percent in 2025, according to data from Counterpoint Research. Globally, foldable smartphone shipments are expected to grow another 20 percent in 2026, the data show.
With that kind of momentum, Apple’s entry was a matter of when, not if.
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Apple's entry is significant—less because foldables needed validation, but more because a player with Apple’s cultural cache will further accelerate consumer awareness, software development and innovation. That will motivate everyone in the category –Motorola included—to continue pushing boundaries.
For Motorola, it reinforces a belief that has shaped our work for more than a decade: The smartphone does not have to be a fixed shape.
Foldables Had to Solve a Real Consumer Problem
New technology does not become a meaningful category until it solves something for consumers that existing technology doesn't.
For years, smartphones presented consumers with a basic tradeoff. Larger displays provide more screen real estate and functionality while smaller devices offer greater portability and convenience.
Foldables were developed as the answer to “Why not both?”
When Motorola brought back our iconic razr as a foldable clamshell device in 2019, we did so to solve that very problem – the specific tension for consumers that phone screens were getting larger, but smartphones were becoming less convenient to carry around.
It was far from simple. In 2015, Motorola and Lenovo assembled a cross-functional team of engineers and designers to explore flexible display technology, tapping into the knowledge of the team behind the hinge technology of Lenovo’s YOGA PCs. From there, our Motorola engineers had to rethink some of the most fundamental elements of a smartphone: how a hinge could support and protect a flexible display through repeated use; how both the battery and antenna could be distributed across two halves of one device; and how software could transition between internal and external displays.
Our first hinge designs simply took up too much space or interfered with other critical components. We had endless debates on how to insert taller components to ensure we didn’t get a thicker phone. And along the way, elements from our original RAZR helped us solve modern problems, including the chin at the base of the phone, which opened up valuable space for components without adding bulk.
More than 20 prototypes later, the foldable razr was born.
In the years since, our teams have evolved nearly every aspect of razr with each new generation—from its external display capabilities to camera quality to how users can personalize their devices and more.
razr now ranks as the No. 1-selling flip phone worldwide. It gives consumers the screen space they expect from a modern smartphone when they need it and folds neatly into a pocket when they don’t.
But not all consumers want the same thing from a foldable, and we don’t believe there is one ideal form factor. Earlier this year, we unveiled the razr fold, our first book-style foldable, which took inspiration from Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold and expanded the razr family beyond the flip to create a larger canvas for multitasking, productivity and entertainment.
That is why we will continue to evolve and expand the razr family, exploring different proportions and experiences while building on the design DNA that makes a razr unmistakably a razr.
The Next Competition Is About What Folding Enables
At Motorola, we have never believed in making a foldable simply because we can. The form has to earn its reason to exist. What matters is what becomes more intuitive, useful or enjoyable because the device folds.
It’s an approach that the numbers bear out: In 2025, Motorola recorded the strongest growth among major manufacturers in the foldables market, capturing 44 percent market share in North America, per Counterpoint Research data, up 14 percentage points from the prior year.
With Apple’s entry, Counterpoint projects in its latest global forecast that shipments of foldable smartphones will surge 24 percent in 2026 to surpass 100 million cumulative units. And although it projects that our worldwide share in foldables could dip – at least temporarily—in 2026 as Apple and others enter the category, we are confident we’ll continue to grow and scale as the category matures and the size of the pie expands. And we’re equally confident in our strategy, which calls for challenging the status quo and expanding our razr family to directly answer consumer needs.
The next era of foldables will be defined by the same parameters as the first: consumer choice and experience.
As foldables mature, the bar is moving from proving the technology can work to proving the form factor can deliver experiences consumers cannot get from a conventional smartphone.
Now, the opportunity increasingly becomes about what foldables enable. This is not going to be just about adding more features. It’s about designing differently for different consumer needs. Some want more portability and convenience, while others desire larger screens for productivity and entertainment. We believe there is a way to give them both, which is something we will continue to explore with the razr family.
The winners in this era must do more than make a foldable device that meets consumer expectations. They must give consumers a compelling reason to enter the category.
More Players Will Make the Category Better
As one of the leaders in the foldables segment, we expected some around us to assume we would view the arrival of other players with trepidation.
It’s truly quite the opposite. While Apple’s entry changes the competitive math for us – specifically in North America where we’ve built our strongest position—our view is that more players inevitably accelerate the next chapter. While Apple is entering the category with a book-style foldable, our razr family is broader, with both book and clamshell-style foldables. And we plan to continue expanding with innovations that ensure we’re providing consumers with the best options for their evolving needs.
So yes, the conversation is changing. The landscape is shifting. And the next two years will settle the question we’ve spent the better part of a decade proving—that the market for smartphones can go beyond the fixed rectangle. Our position is clear as pioneers in the foldable segment. We are confident in where we stand and, importantly, where we’re headed.
We at Motorola welcome the challenge.
Luca Rossi is president of the intelligent devices group and interim president of Motorola.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.