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Samsung’s Galaxy Fold Smartphone Release Delayed - The Wall Street Journal

Posted: 22 Apr 2019 07:20 AM PDT

A production model of the Samsung Galaxy Fold smartphone at a London presentation on April 16. Photo: Simon Nagel/Zuma Press

Timothy W. Martin

The Wall Street Journal

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@timothywmartin
Timothy.Martin@wsj.com

Updated April 22, 2019 10:20 a.m. ET

SEOUL— Samsung Electronics Co. is delaying the expected Friday rollout of its Galaxy Fold smartphone until at least next month, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest fallout from a product headache that began with tech reviewers reporting their test devices had malfunctioned.

The Galaxy Fold phone—priced at nearly $2,000 and the industry's first mainstream foldable-screen device—was slated to hit shelves this week in the U.S. But problems with phones being used by reviewers have changed those plans, the people said.

[For The Wall Street Journal's review, please see Samsung Galaxy Fold Non-Review: We Are Not Your Beta Testers]

The new rollout is expected in the coming weeks, though a firm date has yet to be determined, they said.

Though the company's internal investigation remains ongoing, the Galaxy Fold phone's reported issues stem from problems affecting the handset's hinge and extra pressure applied to the internal screen, the people said.

A Samsung spokeswoman didn't have immediate comment. The company had previously said it would adhere to its plans for the Galaxy Fold phones to hit shelves on April 26 in the U.S.

Multiple tech reviewers publicized their problems last week, encountering issues after using the handset for just a day or two.

Some reviewers had unknowingly ripped off part of the phone's display, believing it to be a protective cover. Others had problems with hinges or flickering screens. Multiple outlets also reported they didn't have any issues with their Galaxy Fold handsets.

For the unintentional screen removal, Samsung has said it would give consumers clear warning to not remove the display's top layer.

Samsung, the world's largest phone maker, has pinned high hopes on the Galaxy Fold handset, which folds in half like a book. It boasts a tablet-sized screen measuring 7.3 inches diagonally. When closed, it sports a second, smaller outer display that can perform most tasks.

WSJ's Joanna Stern had big plans to review Samsung's first foldable phone. Then other Samsung phone screens started breaking and she accidentally began to peel off the screen protector that's not really a screen protector. Here's her non-review.

The delayed launch came hours after the South Korean technology giant abruptly scrapped prerelease media events planned for Hong Kong on Tuesday and Shanghai on Wednesday, a company spokeswoman said earlier on Monday, adding the journalist briefings would be rescheduled at a later date.

The South Korean technology giant didn't specify why the two media briefings had been aborted.

"We are conducting a thorough inspection into the issues reported by some of the reviewers of early Galaxy Fold samples," said a Samsung spokeswoman, in earlier comments. "We will share the findings as soon as we have them."

The smartphone industry is closely watching the release of Samsung's Galaxy Fold phone, the first mainstream foldable-screen handset. It drastically updates the smartphone's look, changing the rectangular design that the ubiquitous product has been stuck with for more than a decade.

Samsung executives view its foldable-screen phone as a way to distinguish the company as a product innovator versus key competitors—especially against China's Huawei Technologies Co., which is building a rival product.

The Huawei device, called the Mate X, is expected to be released this fall, meaning Samsung, even with the delayed Galaxy Fold rollout, still has several months of lead time. Huawei's foldable-screen phone, though, features a bigger screen than the Galaxy Fold's and will command a price tag of about $2,600, more than 30% higher than Samsung's.

The Suwon, South Korea-based company needs a sales lift after reporting an 8% decline in smartphone shipments in 2018, a bigger drop than the industry's 5% slide, according to Strategy Analytics, a market researcher.

Though the broken Galaxy Folds don't pose a safety risk, the product-performance hiccup was a reminder of the 2016 global recall of Galaxy Note 7 handsets due to overheating batteries. The incident tarnished Samsung's brand and cost it billions of dollars.