Update: Samsung has officially announced it's delaying the Galaxy Fold, specifically pointing to feedback from early reviewers that showed the device "needs further improvements." Initial findings, the company wrote, suggested the impact on top and bottom of the hinge might have lead to issues with the display, as well as substances that filtered into the device. Samsung didn't state how long the launch would be delayed, only that they'll announce a new release date "in the coming weeks."
The Galaxy Fold is malfunctioning, according to a handful of tech journalists, and that's been enough for Samsung to delay the planned April 26 launch by a least a month, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Sources told the publication that they haven’t decided on a specific launch date for the Fold, but said that the revised rollout window should be in the “coming weeks.”
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This news comes a day after another report claimed the Galaxy Fold launches had been delayed in China, but was still scheduled for April 26 in the US. Assumedly, the Wall Street Journal's story suggests a larger global launch delay in a rush to fix the issues that have called the Galaxy Fold’s durability into question.
Fixing the fold
Several tech outlets and online reviewers who got an early look at the device – which was slated to be the world’s first mainstream foldable phone to hit stands –innocuously peeled off what looked to be a screen protector covering the unfolded inner screen. This caused the inside display to malfunction and, in some cases, stop working entirely.
At least one other reporter, who didn’t remove the inner screen protector, tweeted that one side of the display started flickering after a few days of basic wear and tear. Another said in a tweet that one side was responding faster than the other, resulting in a “jelly” problem.
Those half-dozen reports quickly sent Samsung into damage control mode, assuring that the company was investigating these instances. We’ll have to see if these reported delays indicate a more serious problem in the Galaxy Fold’s design and durability, or if there are quick and lasting fixes for the first big attempt to launch a flagship foldable phone.
