Motorola PEBL and SLVR: Motorola's New RAZR

Motorola PEBL and SLVR Motorolas New RAZR
Motorola Inc. expects to unveil the follow-up to its trendy RAZR phone by the end of next year with a new flagship design, the company's chief designer said on Thursday.

This year Motorola, the world's No. 2 cell phone maker, hopes to boost its sales by pushing phones with design elements from the ultra-thin, clamshell-shaped RAZR, which became a status symbol and design icon when it was introduced at the end of 2004.

In the fourth quarter, it plans to start selling the PEBL, a curvier version of the RAZR, and the SLVR, a candybar-shaped version of the RAZR.

But consumers will be ready for the next big thing in phones about two years after the RAZR's introduction, Jim Wicks said in an interview.

"Phones are really consumer friendly things and people treat them like that," said Wicks, comparing the fashion in phones to fashions in shirts - discarded after a couple of summers.

"By the end of 2006 you'll start to see what's next," said Wicks. "You'll see something that breaks ground in new areas."