- Samsung has announced that it will release its much-delayed folding smartphone, the $2,000 Galaxy Fold, in South Korea on Friday. The new phone is then scheduled to be rolled out in France, Germany, Singapore, the UK, and the US through the rest of September.
- Samsung generated huge hype last year when it first began showing off a folding-phone prototype, and it unveiled the final device in February.
- That hype was quickly punctured when reporters testing review units in April found that the device’s screen broke quite easily. Samsung pushed back the phone’s April 26 launch date as it frantically tried to fix the issues.
- In a press release Thursday, Samsung said it had improved the design and construction of the phone.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
After months of wondering and waiting, customers finally appear close to being able to get their hands on the first mainstream foldable smartphone: Samsung’s $2,000 Galaxy Fold.
In a press statement on Thursday, Samsung said its book-shaped folding smartphone would be relaunching on Friday, first in its native South Korea and next in France, Germany, Singapore, the UK, and the US, among others. It has not confirmed a specific launch date for any market besides South Korea.
Samsung generated huge hype last year when it first began showing off a folding-phone prototype. The company first unveiled the Galaxy Fold in February to much fanfare but was quickly forced to push back its April 26 launch date after several reviewers reported that the screens on their devices had broken after just two days of use.
Some reviewers discovered issues after removing a protective layer that wasn't designed to be removed; others found that the smartphone simply malfunctioned. Business Insider did not encounter any issues during its review of the Galaxy Fold.
A teardown of Samsung's Galaxy Fold demonstrated that the phone's design was extremely fragile, particularly the screen and the hinge. Its rival Huawei, which is also planning to launch its own foldable phone, also criticized Samsung's design as being too fragile.
Samsung recalled its review phones and delayed its release date indefinitely until it could resolve the screen issues.
"During the past several months, Samsung has been refining the Galaxy Fold to ensure it delivers the best possible experience," the firm said in its Thursday statement. "Not only we improved the Galaxy Fold's design and construction, but also took the time to rethink the entire consumer journey."
Business Insider's Lisa Eadicicco had a sneak peek at the Galaxy Fold back in April, before the fixes. The Fold is 5G-enabled, and its design means it folds and unfolds a little like a book. When completely unfolded, the phone features a 7.3-inch inner display. Folded up, there's a separate 4.6-inch front display. It's powered by a 7-nanometer 64-bit processor and includes 12 GB of RAM, 512 GB of storage space, and a 4,380 mAh battery.
While the exact date for the US market has not yet been released, one customer told Business Insider that they were informed by a customer-support representative that it would launch there on September 27. This Samsung representative also said the new phone would be sold exclusively through retail stores at first and would not be available to order through Samsung's website. Samsung declined to comment on this.