Samsung is not giving up on the Galaxy Fold, despite display hardware issues that crippled the company’s first effort to launch the groundbreaking flexible smartphone.
Six weeks after Samsung pulled the planned April 26 United States release, Samsung has issued new comments confirming the relaunch will be announced sooner rather than later.
In a statement to CNET, Samsung simply said: “We will announced timing in the coming weeks,” without going into further detail on when the handset might finally reach consumers.
It’s little surprise Samsung is being vague on the topic after it previously whiffed on a pledge to announce relaunch plans in May. From this statement it appears that Samsung isn’t precisely sure when it will get the Galaxy Fold out in the wild.
Related: Samsung Galaxy Fold problems
The new statement comes after US retailer Best Buy unceremoniously cancelled all pre-orders made Stateside citing the uncertainty over the release.
In the last week of May, Best Buy emailed customers to say “with breakthrough designs and technology come many hurdles and the possibility to face a plethora of unforeseen hiccups. These hurdles have led Samsung to postpone the release of the Galaxy Fold, and Samsung has not provided a new release date. Because we put our customers first and want to ensure they are taken care of in the best possible manner, Best Buy has decided to cancel all current pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy Fold.”
The company said it will keep interested parties notified of Samsung’s plans and will drop them a line when the manufacturer makes any announcement about the future plans. It’s also giving those pre-order customers a $100 gift card in the way of compensation.
Samsung is reportedly in the process of making a number of improvements to the Galaxy Fold hardware after a disastrous launch, which saw early review units recalled following a number of display breakages. Firstly, the company is now tucking the display’s protective layer into the body of the phone itself to guard against people trying to peel it off, believing it to be a screen protector, as some early reviewers did.
Some of the reviewers that obtained early versions of the device also experienced display damage attributed to debris making its way inside the phone from a small gap positioned at the top and bottom parts of the hinge. Samsung is said to be reducing that gap.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
