Goodbye DROID: Classic brand won't be used anymore.

You all know by now Motorola launched some new Mods and the Moto Z2 Play yesterday in Brazil. Along the press release, Moto announced it would be carried by Verizon Wireless in the USA. 

Motorola and Verizon have a fruitful history of successful bold products under the DROID brand. It all started with the original DROID in 2009, then got to the DROID X, DROID 2 to DROID 4, the iconic DROID RAZR series, the DROID Ultra and the DROID Turbo series.

Last year, the DROID brand was merely used as an "edition". It was the Moto Z Droid or the Moto Z Force Droid. The names were rather long and since Motorola was going in all for "Moto" in 2016, the classic Droid brand wasn't as needed anymore.

Now it's 2017, and the new Moto Z2 Play which got also announced by Verizon doesn't carry the DROID brand. So yeah, last year's Moto Z phones were the last smartphones ever to carry this iconic name. 

Meet the next-generation Moto Z2 Play: https://t.co/K1pRyczNcQ pic.twitter.com/erJHUlmw1q

— Verizon News (@VerizonNews) June 1, 2017

What are the reasons? Adding "Droid" to the name is a bit confusing for consumers. It makes the phone's name be longer or it would require Motorola to create different visuals and marketing material for a "Droid Z2 Play" or a "Moto Z2 Play Droid". It doesn't sound as great as Moto Z2 Play. The other reason could be because of royalties. As you know, LucasFilms owns the Droid brand, and Motorola has been paying royalties to them since 2009. If you read the back of a Droid's package, it says the Droid brand is used under license. Why spend money in a name that might not be needed anymore?

So everything is Motorola Moto from now on. Of course we will cherish the DROID years, but we are excited for what's to come!