Razer Hints at Smartphone Launch on November 1st: "Watch, Listen, Play"
by Anton Shilov on October 13, 2017 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Android
- Razer
Just months after Razer made a filing for IPO in Hong Kong, the company has hinted on plans to enter the smartphone market. In the recent weeks, the company implied on such intentions for at least three times and there are indicators that the company is prepping at least one handset.
In the recent years, Razer has made several acquisitions, including Ouya, THX, Nextbit and others, to expand its IP portfolio. As it appears, the company had particular plans when it bought Nextbit (the startup behind the Robin smartphone) earlier this year and these plans include a smartphone launch.
Back in September, Min-Liang Tan, the CEO and a co-founder of Razer, said in an interview with CNBC that his company was working on a mobile gaming device planned to launch by the end of the year. Then, in early October, Tom Moss (the founder of Nextbit and SVP/GM of Mobile at Razer) published an image of Mr. Tan with a rectangular device in his pocket, which clearly resembled a smartphone or a mobile game console. Finally, on Wednesday the company tweeted a teaser that almost certainly implies on a launch of a mobile gaming device on November 1 during an event called “Watch, Listen, Play.”
Historically, a number of manufacturers have attempted to release smartphones aimed at gamers. Nokia tried to popularize its N-Gage and then N-Gage QD devices in 2003 – 2004. Then Sony Ericsson released its Xperia Play smartphone in 2011. Neither of the devices have become popular. Motorola reportedly attempted to release a gaming handset in 2011, but cancelled the project. Another part of the gaming smartphone challenge is that only a handful of smartphone makers are actually making money with Samsung being the most profitable among suppliers of Android-based handsets. Cut-throat competition and price wars are key reasons for that.
Razer certainly understands that launching its own handset is very challenging. Meanwhile, the company’s track record has been quite successful so far: Razer has significantly expanded its product lineup since 2005 from mice to various peripherals and even gaming PCs. On the other hand, there were failures as well: the Razer Edge gaming tablet, the project Christine modular PC, and a number of others have never taken off. Still, its own smartphone platform is potentially a too lucrative project not to try it.
Related reading:
- Razer Files for IPO in Hong Kong to Raise $600 Million
- Razer Announces Project Ariana: Chroma Lighting Comes To The Room, And To Third Parties
- Razer Reveals Their Triple Monitor Gaming Laptop Concept: Project Valerie
- Razer Acquires Majority Of THX Ltd Assets
- Razer Updates The Razer Blade Stealth: More Screen, Less Bezel, New Color Option
- Razer Launches The Thresher Ultimate: An Xbox, PS4, And PC 7.1 Headset
- Razer Announces The Lancehead Gaming Mice
- Razer Updates The Razer Blade Pro With THX Certification
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BrokenCrayons - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
The problem with physical controls are that they add bulk to a handset. I'd prefer using a bluetooth controller so I can pick the controller type and style I want and then decide whether or not I want to carry it with me based on where I'm going and what I'm doing at the time because a lot of emulated games don't absolutely require physical controls. Slower-paced JRPGs for example work passably well with on-screen control inputs because they just don't need twitchy, reflexive responses.edzieba - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
Going with a separate controller means your 'gaming phone' is completely pointless and utterly indistinguishable from every other smartphone.There's a reason why people cling to their Shield Portables even when the Shield Tablet is available with a faster, lower-power processor and better screen: separate controllers suck for portability.
Diji1 - Saturday, October 14, 2017 - link
Oh, I thought it was because Shield as a gaming platform has a library of almost entirely awful Android games accompanied by a handful of made for Shield games that you probably already played a decade ago.tipoo - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
Hopefully they don't go with the gaudy neon green logo and go for the more mute grey one. Or preferably, without that logo at all.shabby - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
But then how will anyone know that you have a gaming phone?!? It must have the neon green logo, plus rgb's on every corner!cfenton - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
It's going to be a large black slab (with some green accents, maybe), just like every other phone. It will probably be like a Shield Tablet, but with a much better CPU. It's not going to have physical controls, it's not going to run Windows, and it's almost certainly not going to be cheap. If you want a portable traditional gameplay experience, buy a Switch. This thing will run Android, and so it will be stuck with phone games and emulation, both of which waste the potential power of a high-end gaming phone.linuxgeex - Saturday, October 14, 2017 - link
"In the recent weeks, the company implied on such intentions for at least three times and there are indicators that the company is prepping at least one handset."Much English speaking we are?