by Samra Anees
When Samsung announced the Samsung Galaxy Fold, there was a lot of hype around it because it was the first foldable phone to launch in the U.S. and an impressive feat of engineering; however, days before the phone is meant to launch, Samsung is delaying the launch indefinitely due to several issues with the phone as testers reviewed it.
Why did Samsung have to delay the launch of the Galaxy Fold?
This blog highlights the issues testers had with the phone and what this means for Samsung.
Problems With the Phone are as Deep as the Hardware
There have been reports of several issues with the Fold, from people mistakenly pulling off the “protector layer” of the phone, to debris making its way under the display screen through the hinges and affecting the display, to the phone altogether not working for no apparent reason after just a few days, even without any damage.
Samsung addressed the issues with the phone via a press release and stated that the phone needed “further improvements” and that the launch will be delayed—the new release date will be announced in the “coming weeks”.
Samsung Delayed the Launch—But How Did It Come This Close to Shipping?
While it’s nice that Samsung is delaying the launch due to user feedback, it’s shocking that the product came this close to shipping with problems as deep as this. Some users say that the screen stopped working altogether after a few days for no obvious reason, which indicates problems with the software. Other users found that substances made their way, probably through the hinges, to the underside of the screen, messing up the display—which also indicates problems with the hardware.
This begs the question—how did the product even come this close to shipping with this many issues? The Samsung Fold is a $2,000 phone—a very steep price for a phone. Had the product shipped, Samsung would have received severe backlash by customers.
Bottom Line
With the Fold priced at $2,000 and being one of the first phones of its kind, we already knew that the Samsung Galaxy Fold was a halo product and not intended for mass consumption. However, with the test phones breaking so quickly and unexpectedly, existing buyers may be even more hesitant to purchase the phone now.
Samsung is being put on notice as other providers are moving into this race, such as Huawei with the Huawei Mate X, not long after Samsung and with an even sleeker design. Other giants like Apple have also been rumored to release a foldable phone soon.
Samsung will have to do some major repairs to the Galaxy Fold to get back in the race with giants like Huawei, and any other providers that may come out with a similar design soon. We will have to wait and see if Samsung convincingly solves the issues with the phone by the next launch.