“A new release date for the Galaxy Fold will be announced in the coming weeks, Samsung says”
Ahead of its official launch, Samsung has gone ahead and announced that the Galaxy Fold smartphone has been delayed. The Galaxy Fold, which is priced at $1,980, was supposed to launch on April 26th in certain regions across the world. However, due to several review units facing display issues, the company has now delayed the launch. According to the official statement, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, a new release date would be announced in the coming weeks.
In the last few days, the Galaxy Fold has gone from an engineering marvel to a disaster. Samsung had sent out a bunch of units of the Galaxy Fold to reviewers around the world. The devices started developing problems with the display and were unusable in some instances. An exact cause for some of the issues aren’t known, but it may have to do with a protective layer on top of the display. Some reviewers removed this screen protector, which led to the display going kaput.
Videos and photos of the Galaxy Fold with damaged displays are all over the internet. A few of the units were damaged even though the screen protector was still on. Samsung had not included a warning about the screen protector in the first batch of units sent for review. It was only present in the most recent T-Mobile and review units. This is a major issue and a huge blow to the company. An email was sent out to all customers who preordered a Galaxy Fold, stating that an update on shipping would be provided in about two weeks time.
Below is the full email:
“We recently unveiled a completely new mobile category: a smartphone using multiple new technologies and materials to create a display that is flexible enough to fold. We are encouraged by the excitement around the Galaxy Fold.
While many reviewers shared with us the vast potential they see, some also showed us how the device needs further improvements that could ensure the best possible user experience. To fully evaluate this feedback and run further internal tests, we have decided to delay the release of the Galaxy Fold. We plan to announce the release date in the coming weeks.
Initial findings from the inspection of reported issues on the display showed that they could be associated with impact on the top and bottom exposed areas of the hinge. There was also an instance where substances found inside the device affected the display performance.
We will take measures to strengthen the display protection. We will also enhance the guidance on care and use of the display including the protective layer so that our customers get the most out of their Galaxy Fold.
We value the trust our customers place in us and they are always our top priority. Samsung is committed to working closely with customers and partners to move the industry forward. We want to thank them for their patience and understanding.”
Samsung promises to improve the protection for the display and mentions that initial investigations found that the issue could be due to an impact to the hinge and dust entering the phone. Delaying the release of the phone is probably the best move for Samsung. It would’ve been bad to ship a defective product to customers, especially since the device costs thousands of dollars. We are not sure if Samsung will be able to fix the flaws in two weeks’ time. It could take months to re-engineer the phone’s folding mechanism. We will have to wait to find out what Samsung plans to do with the Galaxy Fold.