SAN FRANCISCO, April 23, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Samsung said Monday it was
delaying the launch of its folding smartphone after trouble with handsets
sent to reviewers.
Some reviewers who got their hands on the Galaxy Fold early reported
problems with screens breaking.
Samsung said it decided to put off this week’s planned release of the Fold
after some reviews “showed us how the device needs further improvements.”
The South Korean consumer electronics giant planned to announce a new
release date for the Galaxy Fold in the coming weeks.
Initial analysis of reported problems with Galaxy Fold screens showed they
could be “associated with impact on the top and bottom exposed areas of the
hinge,” Samsung said.
There was also an instance where unspecified “substances” were found inside
a Galaxy Fold smartphone with a troubled display, according to the company.
“We will take measures to strengthen the display protection,” Samsung said.
“We will also enhance the guidance on care and use of the display including
the protective layer.”
A handful of US-based reporters were given the flagship Galaxy Fold phones,
priced at $1,980, ahead of the model’s official release, and they reported
screen issues within days of using the devices.
Dieter Bohn of The Verge said: “Something happened to my Galaxy Fold screen
and caused a bulge… It’s broken.”
Samsung spent nearly eight years developing the Galaxy Fold, which is part
of the leading smartphone maker’s strategy to propel growth with
groundbreaking gadgets.
– Surviving life –
The firm had earlier suggested some reviewers encountered screen failures
because a protective layer intended to remain in place on the display was
accidentally removed by reviewers.
Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi told AFP that a Galaxy Fold
she reviewed worked fine, performing even in sometimes messy situations that
arise in everyday life.
She wondered if some problems with smartphones reviewed were due to dust,
moisture or other material getting into handsets through small openings at
the tops and bottoms of hinges.
“If stuff gets in there, it can make its way under the screen,” Milanesi
said.
“There seems to be a kind of real-life test that maybe didn’t occur.”
Testing folding phones in a lab is a much different scenario than
challenging them “in the wild” where they need to endure pockets, handbags,
greasy food, spilled coffee and more, the analyst noted.
Samsung may also need to do more to convey how folding screens warrant more
careful handling than stiff displays that have been improved over generations
of smartphones.
Milanesi did not expect a slight delay in the launch of the Galaxy Fold to
be a major setback for Samsung, saying that the model was unlikely to be a
big driver of sales given its price and that services or apps are still being
adapted to the new type of smartphone.
Samsung smartphones tuned to work with super-speedy fifth-generation
telecommunications networks are more important to the company’s bottom line
on the near horizon, according to the analyst.
“It is still early days for 5G, but that is the product that is going to
make a difference for Samsung this year,” Milanesi said.
Samsung is the world’s biggest smartphone maker, and earlier this month
launched the 5G version of its top-end Galaxy S10 device.
– Adding to Samsung woes –
Despite the recent announcements about its new high-end devices, Samsung
has warned of a more than 60 percent plunge in first-quarter operating profit
in the face of weakening markets.
The firm is also no stranger to device issues.
Its reputation suffered a major blow after a damaging worldwide recall of
its Galaxy Note 7 devices over exploding batteries in 2016, which cost the
firm billions of dollars and shattered its global brand image.
Samsung originally planned to release the Galaxy Fold as scheduled on April
26.
While Samsung’s device was not the first folding handset, the smartphone
giant was expected to help spark demand and potentially revive a sector that
has been struggling for new innovations.
Other folding devices have been introduced by startup Royole and by
Chinese-based Huawei.
Samsung Electronics is the flagship subsidiary of Samsung Group, by far the
biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in the
world’s 11th-largest economy, and it is crucial to South Korea’s economic
health.
The company has enjoyed record profits in recent years despite a series of
setbacks, including the jailing of its de facto chief.