SAMSUNG’S FEARS UN-FOLDING
Company delays launch, retrieving samples to probe reports of broken screens
SAMSUNG Electronics Co Ltd is retrieving all Galaxy Fold samples distributed to reviewers to investigate reports of broken screens, a day after it postponed the phone’s launch, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter yesterday.
The retrieval comes as the world’s biggest smartphone maker met with embarrassment ahead of the foldable device’s United States release on Friday, with a handful of technology journalists reporting breaks, bulges and blinking screens after a day’s use.
The tech giant postponed the handset’s launch for an unspecified period of time while it investigated the matter.
It said initial findings showed the issues could be associated with impact on exposed areas of the hinges.
A person with direct knowledge of the supply chain said KH Vatec Co Ltd conducted an internal review of hinges used in the Galaxy
Fold and found no defects. The supplier declined to comment.
Last month, Samsung released a video showing robots folding Galaxy Fold handsets 200,000 times for its durability test.
Samsung’s head of information technology and mobile communications, DJ Koh, had repeatedly said foldables were the future of smartphones.
Though the issue did not hurt Samsung’s balance sheet, the postponement damaged the firm’s effort to showcase itself as an innovative first mover, not a fast follower, said analysts.
In some cases, reviewers had peeled off a layer of film which they mistook for a disposable screen protector.
“It’s disastrous that Samsung sent samples to reviewers without clear instructions on how to handle the device, and that the firm needs to fix screen flickering,” said analyst Kim Young-woo at SK Securities.
One Samsung staff said, “On the bright side, we have an opportunity to nail down this issue and fix it before selling the phones to a massive audience, so they won’t have same complaints.”
Samsung emailed pre-order customers upon delaying the launch, said online outlets on Twitter.
“Your pre-order guarantees your place in the queue for this innovative technology,” said Samsung. “We’ll update you with more specific shipping information in two weeks.”