Samsung has delayed the Galaxy Fold launch in China

Samsung is believed to have cancelled its Galaxy Fold launch event in China. The firm is blaming the decision on a last minute issue with the venue, according to someone claiming to be familiar with the matter. But that seems a little too convenient seeing as the handset has been under heavy fire all week, after a number of units broke after being in the hands of reviewers for less than a day.

When the first wave of reports surfaced, Samsung was quick to issue a statement confirming that it would not delay the Galaxy Fold's launch — but that was in the United States. That's because all of the reports of breakages stemmed from there, and for the most part, their demise was due to user negligence; although there was one concerning case where a unit ceased working for no reason.

Related: Let's talk about the Galaxy Fold's screen ‘issues'

So why has it postponed the handset's launch event in China? The answer is unclear. Reliable tipster Ice Universe told SamMobile that two other local activities pertaining to the device have also been cancelled, leading us to believe that the venue was not to blame. And if it wasn't, we can't help but worry that Samsung could have a more serious issue on its hands, like a hardware defect.

We have another theory, though

Given that almost all the reports of devices breaking came after owners tampered with the protective layer on top of the screen, which Samsung warned could render the unit unusable if toyed with, we have a theory that it could have delayed the launch so it can introduce more warnings to stress the importance of the film being left in place — to prevent a repeat of what happened in the States.

Keen to find out more about the Galaxy Fold? Check out our hands-on. Want to learn about the protective layer? Check out our explainer.