When Samsung finally sent out review units of the Galaxy Fold to members of the press in April, it felt like the future was almost here. The world's first foldable smartphone was in our hands and it seemed like Samsung had hit a home run. Merely two days later, reports started coming in of the device breaking.
There were issues with the protective film on top of the foldable display and with the ingress of foreign substances through the hinge. Samsung was quick to take back all review units and confirm that the April 26 launch had been delayed which it worked to fix the problems. While a new release date has not yet been announced, Samsung mobile CEO DJ Koh has admitted that the foldable smartphone was sent out “before it was ready.”
Still no firm release date for the Galaxy Fold
Speaking at a recent interaction with members of the traditional press, Koh said that “It was embarrassing. I pushed it through before it was ready.” Samsung probably wanted to beat Huawei to the market which had already shown its hand with the Mate X. All is not lost, though, as Koh says that “I do admit I missed something on the foldable phone, but we are in the process of recovery.”
He added that more than 2,000 units of the Galaxy Fold are being tested right now in all aspects. “We defined all the issues. Some issues we didn’t even think about, but thanks to our reviewers, mass volume testing is ongoing,” Koh explained. Koh's impatience isn't just to blame for the Galaxy Fold debacle. Samsung’s head of global marketing strategy, Stephanie Choi pointed out that the company's brand philosophy is ‘do what you can't.' “We make what can’t be made, and do what can’t be done,” Choi said, adding that things like the Galaxy Fold delay are sometimes part of the process in trying to achieve that goal.
Koh was asked to provide a concrete timeframe for when Samsung will launch the Galaxy Fold. He refused to be more specific, though, only saying that Samsung has identified all of the issues and problems with the device and has worked on it. When pressed further by those present, Koh only said that the Galaxy Fold will be released “in due course,” imploring everybody to “Give us a bit more time.”
Evidently, the rumors about the Galaxy Fold being canceled have little truth to them. We have repeatedly been pointing out that Samsung is testing new firmware for the Galaxy Fold at an incredible pace. With Huawei delaying the Mate X launch to September, Samsung still has a bit of breathing room before it sends out the Galaxy Fold to claim the world's first foldable smartphone title again.
