IFA 2019: Samsung Galaxy Fold Relaunch Set For 6 September
Samsung will relaunch its troubled foldable phone at the end of the week, starting in South Korea
Samsung has confirmed that its delayed Galaxy Fold smartphone will go on sale in South Korea on Friday 6th September.
Samsung had admitted in late July that its folding smartphone would be released in September in selected markets.
The groundbreaking folding smartphone had been slated to arrive in US shops on 26 April and in the UK on 3 May. The price is a hefty $2,000 (£1,800).
Galaxy Fold
But those dates soon slipped after Samsung was forced to postpone the launch after early reviewers reported faults with the folding display, which halted media events for the device in the Far East.
The boss of Samsung, co-CEO DJ Koh earlier in Juy had admitted that the delayed launch of its folding smartphone, was ‘embarrassing.’
He reportedly said he had pushed the Galaxy Fold to market “before it was ready. An executive in June had confirmed that the faults had been fixed with the device.
But the relaunch is slated for 6 September in South Korea with 5G connectivity included, Reuters reported.
It will then launch in selected markets including the US, the UK and Singapore (but no release dates for those countries has been revealed).
Samsung will also reportedly provide a program for Fold users in which the company covers 70 percent of cost of a display screen repair once within a year, according to its statement.
“Consumers have responded positively to larger screens, and the Galaxy Fold’s revolutionary form factor offers a bigger, more immersive screen without sacrificing portability,” DJ Koh, chief executive of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics was quoted by Reuters as saying.
It remains to be seen how much consumer confidence in Galaxy Fold has deteriorated and what sales of the device will be.
Rival devices
It is worth remembering that others are waiting in the wings to pounce, if Samsung cannot prove that the design concept works and is robust.
Samsung had first revealed the Galaxy Fold to the world in February, as it was under pressure at the time to bring it to market ahead of rivals Huawei and Xiaomi.
Huawei’s folding handset, the Mate X, is also expected to go on sale in September.
There is no word on a release date for the Xiaomi device.
