Motorola sells 50 millionth RAZR
by Darren Murph 
posted Jul 21st 2006 at 9:12AM
It's hard for any phone to out-do the legendary StarTac, but Motorola's posterchild -- you know which one we're talking about -- has officially sold 50 million units. Since the Hong Kong debut way back in 2004, the RAZR has dominated the mobile scene, and with a figure like that, you have to give props to the ingenious engineering, er, marketing team behind it. The handset really hasn't changed much over the years, and its lamentable success is due in large part to buyers' infatuation with colors; the ability jump-start sales by varying the paint job gave Motorola a bonafide cash cow, enabling everyone and their mother (literally) to jump on the ultimate mobile bandwagon. And with the possibility of more colors on the horizon, the question beckons: when will the madness end? While the 50 million unit milestone is commendable, we're not shy about spending our time looking towards the future.
[Via Mobiledia]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tom Seeder @ Jul 21st 2006 10:36AM
We know how well Motorola, and most of the entire cell phone industry, has been doing...
X Budd @ Jul 21st 2006 10:59AM
HAHA. Check the picture. It has TWO RAZRs and "x 50 Million"!
That would be.... uhh... double 50 Million!!! (Lol)
Huh @ Jul 21st 2006 12:10PM
Yep, they've been experiencing record profits this quarter.
Finished.Law.School @ Jul 21st 2006 12:56PM
50 million phones, all with a worthless user interface...
eight @ Jul 21st 2006 2:30PM
It just goes to show that a lot of consumers are only interested in style, with features or even usability being unimportant.
Donald @ Jul 21st 2006 2:55PM
Maybe Moto can use the profit they've earned from this phone to buy the KRZR a vowel.
-_- @ Jul 21st 2006 3:03PM
okay, time for a little poll.
moto has sold 50,000,000 razrs. are you:
a)suprised that this worthless fashion phone phone made it that long,
b)angered that such a pos designer phone could sell that many units, or
c)not suprised in the slightest that the average consumer looks first at design, and then realizes that the features are similar to a phone that could be had for about $100 less.
i like "c" myself. a deaf-as-in-can't-hear-at-all friend downgraded from a sidekick color to a black razr; now it takes her 3 minutes to send a message to her husband instead of 1. she thought the shiny keypad would be easy to use. wrong~
Matt @ Jul 21st 2006 3:45PM
I caught the RAZR craze, and I'm less than impressed. I really wanted a Q, but Verizon charges too much for data service. Plus, they refused to apply my Every2 credit toward a Q to make the phone $99 out of pocket. At any rate, the only things going for the RAZR are its thin size and its call quality. All conversations are crystal clear, and I have yet to have any problems finding a network signal. The size is great because it fits nicely in my pants pocket without the appearance of Elephantatis. However, the thin design sacrifices battery life. Of course I think something is wrong with the battery because it charges for an hour then the phone reports the charge is complete, but 8 hours later with no calls made, and it needs another charge. I'm taking it back and asking for a replacement tomorrow and an extension of the 15 day trial because clearly something is faulty considering my wife's RAZR, which was bought the same day, doesn't have the same problems.
Dull @ Jul 22nd 2006 12:42PM
One would think that if the phone were 2 years old that they would have improved it some (other then new case colors), but it seems like the same phone. They haven’t even bothered with improving the battery or the screen, let alone the camera or adding a card slot.
Charlene @ Jul 22nd 2006 5:18PM
Razr, shmazr. My roommate has one and it is a pain to send picture messages to his email account to his site. It takes like a minute on average. Plus, I hate that I cannot feel the separate buttons unless i look at the pad, the outside display is too small to read the caller id, lest the clock. And while some carriers have the megapixel cameraphones now, his is the older vga camera, and the display is ghastly. and he was told at the time it had the best reception...bullshit, externals have better reception.
I have a friend who wants the limited Dolci and Gabbana version...why pay $600 for it? Because he is gay and wants it because D&B is a co-owner of the product design.
And many other ppl I know want it more for the fact that besides looking cute(which I doubt it is), it looks like 1 in 3 ppl or whatev has too.
joe c @ Jul 23rd 2006 1:55AM
hell, i'm gay and i would love that $600 phone. but then gays always, always have extra disposable income.
bottom line is that the razr is beautiful. granted it could use a feature overhaul (like address book searching) but in this case, and many other cases, style triumphs over function. people who choose to completely disparage the phone are either fashion victims that are ridiculed in the streets or they're poor (which is unlikely since the razr price has plummeted faster than vin diesel's career since the pacifier).
i have a razr. it's black and oh so slimming.
ps: by the way charlene, it's "Dolce" and it's "D&G" you're a girl(?) you should know that.
Ashlee @ Jul 23rd 2006 1:07PM
50 million??? That's a total joke... 2 years later and people are still buying them? I understand that it was a first for ultra slim phones, but still, it has been re-used with a V3i, V3x, V3iTunes, (pretty much squeezed for every penny) so why dont people just buy them instead of buying a phone which is now so dated?? And, when are Motorola gonna come up with something new, exciting and different?
-_- @ Jul 23rd 2006 2:23PM
well, considering that motorola is the master of rebadging devices, this is totally unsuprising. i mean, how many versions of the star-tac were there? and don't forget the v300, v400, v500, and all the triplets phones; all of them carried (almost) the exact same specs, but motorola is still pawning them off on unsuspecting americans through cingular with that whole "replace your lost/stolen phone" crap.
but, like it or not, this phone is going down in history because not only was it revolutionary 2 years ago, it spawned an entirely new trend: who can make the skinniest phone? and the naming system (razr, slvr, pebl, rokr, scpl) will probably become standard for all of moto's fashion phones.
don't hate moto 'cause they rock out loud.
Michael @ Jul 23rd 2006 4:50PM
Anything popular attracts its share of haters. People complain about the lack of features or the UI on the phone, but the selling point of this phone is one thing only, the size. Who cares if you can enter text messages faster on a sidekick? I can enter texts even faster on my laptop, but it sure doesn't fit in my pocket as nice.
Hell, I got one for FREE (as did a ton of others) with rebate from amazon.com with new cingular activation. Complain about the phone if you will, but I defy you to find a better one for free. Also, it was a revolutionary phone when it came out. Unrivaled in size and with a generous feature set (espescially for the size)
beanspants1 @ Jul 23rd 2006 11:12PM
what do you mean 3 minutes to do a text message? use the predictive text or the included quick messages.
what do you mean a pain to send picture messages?
click on send mms, choose insert picture, choose who to send it to, click send.
it's an excellent phone with really good battery life, and really easy to use extra features, like internet, pop3 email, good sized screen, MMS, and Mobile Phone Tools to make your cell phone into a PC modem where ever you are... that's why it's sold 50 million.
Matt @ Jul 24th 2006 2:26PM
For detractors who say Moto hasn't kept the phone up with the times obviously haven't had one since its inception. The Verizon variant V3m does include a 1.3 megapixel camera and transflash slot. Unfortunately, the slot is under the battery, but I'm guessing most users won't bother taking it out. BTW, Verizon replaced my first V3m after the first week -- the battery needed a recharge every 8 hours. So far, I'm thinking the poor battery life -- even in a properly working phone -- is very lackluster even for someone who makes few phone calls like me. I'm thinking of swapping this model for another phone like the LG VX8300 or maybe even the Chocolate. Anyone have suggestions for strong alternatives to RAZRs?
DJ @ Jul 26th 2006 12:56PM
I paid nothing, after rebates, for my RAZR six months ago and it's worth exactly what I paid for it. In other words, worthless. Keypad sticks (a replacement is on it's way), can't view either screen in the sunlight, voice dialing is nonexistent, web access is a joke, redial is a pain compared to Nokia, and overall ergonomics simply suck. Shoulda bought a Treo like my wife did.....
DJ @ Jul 26th 2006 12:57PM
I paid nothing, after rebates, for my RAZR six months ago and it's worth exactly what I paid for it. In other words, worthless. Keypad sticks (a replacement is on it's way), can't view either screen in the sunlight, voice dialing is nonexistent, web access is a joke, redial is a pain compared to Nokia, and overall ergonomics simply suck. Shoulda bought a Treo like my wife did.....
dave @ Sep 14th 2006 5:07PM
i hate the razr. the 'lip on the bottom of the flip' sucks, and its the reason im not trading my blade in for a canary, even when sprint gets the canary.
dream phone: UE9.9 CDMA(SPH-M610) in black with external media controls and a nuclear tritium cell battery that has 5 days of constand talk or text time.
UE9.9 is thinner than razr, has more features, better software, doesnt have that hideously ugly lip, much higher quality camera WITH FLASH, and samsung's slim phones just look so much nicer and cleaner than moto's do. my blade is probably the most beautiful phone out there, unless some chinese phone clone factory made a canary knockoff without the lip.
Bowen @ Aug 29th 2007 5:48PM
I got a 3 free Razr's and $200 USD cash back with a 700 min shared plan. Maybe thats why they sell :P (Lolz I'm a kid btw!)