The Samsung Galaxy Fold was tipped to take the brand into the stratosphere as it boasted a design that not many smartphone manufacturers have. However, in a bid to release a product ahead of schedule, Samsung launched a product that was half-baked causing several review units to face unforeseen issues. Now, Samsung CEO DJ Koh has shared his views on the Galaxy Fold and has conceded that it was embarrassing and it wasn’t ready to be launched.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold marked an impressive step in a new smartphone category that is until certain review units started malfunctioning just a few days after being unboxed. Reviewers who had early access to the Galaxy Fold complained about the display with some handsets being rendered useless. This forced Samsung to recall the devices and postpone its April 25 release date.
According to a report by The Independent, Samsung’s head DJ Koh claimed “It was embarrassing. I pushed it through before it was ready.” Koh stated that the reason for the rush was due to the threat of Samsung’s Chinese counterparts such as Huawei and Xiaomi also set to release its own foldable smartphones. Huawei has its Mate X foldable smartphone and it is expected to launch by September this year.
Koh said, “I do admit I missed something on the foldable phone, but we are in the process of recovery. At the moment, more than 2,000 devices are being tested right now in all aspects. We defined all the issues. Some issues we didn’t even think about, but thanks to our reviewers, mass volume testing is ongoing.”
After the initial delay, Samsung pushed the launch date of the Galaxy Fold till May, then June and then before July. Now it isn’t known when the handset will be made available. Koh insists that the release of the device is going to happen but doesn’t provide a specific time frame.
Koh added that though foldable smartphones are the future, smart devices with varied form factors may eventually surpass smartphones in popularity. Koh added, “Foldable will last a couple of years. Another form factor is a possibility, but I will say that once 5G and the internet of things are available [together], we must think, rather than smartphones, we must think smart devices. Smartphones may decline but new devices will emerge.”
