Is the $3,000 Galaxy Fold set to be a Samsung lemon?

Has Samsung built a big expensive lemon in the form of their all-new Galaxy Fold come smartphone or a mini tablet?

The much-talked-about foldable phone is finally here, and it is going to cost upwards of $2,900 in Australia.

When it was first revealed, it drew audible gasps and laughs from the assembled audience in San Francisco, not only in response to the price but the design and weight.

The Fold features a tablet-sized 7.3-inch display which bends, allowing it to fold to a narrow smartphone with a 4.6-inch screen.

The added screen space allows for multi-tasking with three apps at once, which many can find difficult even on a 15″ inch notebook at the best of times. And who processes three tasks at once even on a 15″ notebook?

But the Fold’s US $1,980 price tag is a hefty price to pay for multi-tasking.

On raw dollar translation terms and without GST, that adds up to A$2,788. Add in the GST and you have a $3,000 device which as one Twitter user said. “No one needs to spend their time on 3 apps. Do one damn thing at a time.”

“My prediction is that the $2000 #SamsungFold will be the biggest flop in phone history,” another tweet read.

A 13-inch MacBook Pro with 128GB storage costs as little as $1,849, or $1,151 less than the new Samsung device, which is tipped to launch in Australia in the next quarter.

My concerns are that when the device is folded over it’s much narrower than my Galaxy 9 Note, or the regular Galaxy 9+, it is long and thin.

That is a big negative as the device is still going to be used as a smartphone more so than a tablet or small flip screen.

While the technology in the device is cutting edge, most smartphones are used for the basics and if the delivery of the basics like messaging, or accessing contacts, are being compromised by having to constantly open up the device, it will fail.

It could become a glorified status symbol but at three grand, this is a serious case of overkill.

Samsung launched the new gadget as part of their 10th Galaxy anniversary and while they are the first to deliver a foldable smartphone, they are yet to get consumer feedback and that will be the true litmus test as to whether there is a place in the market for a $3K mobile device.

Samsung launched the new Galaxy Fold along with a bevvy of other devices including the new Galaxy S10 flagships with Wireless PowerShare and AMOLED screens with cut-out front cameras.

The S10 comes in four different models, the standard S10 and S10+ with edge-to-edge display, the compact, cheaper S10e and future-focused S10 5G with a mammoth 6.7-inch display that is able to operate on the super-fast 5G networks that are being developed by wireless carriers.

The new flagship phone also comes with a hidden fingerprint sensor built under the display — rather than a piece of plastic on top of the display, like on the iPhone.

But as for their hero, I have my doubts that this device will be the success that Samsung is hoping for.