Samsung Electronics CEO admits he launched the Galaxy Fold too early

Samsung Electronics' CEO, D.J. Koh, has claimed responsibility for the premature launch of the Galaxy Fold, which is still awaiting a new release date.

"It was embarrassing. I pushed it through before it was ready," Koh told The Independent and other press outlets at a meeting in Seoul. "I do admit I missed something on the foldable phone, but we are in the process of recovery."

Over 2,000 Folds are now undergoing testing, he explained. "We defined all the issues. Some issues we didn't even think about, but thanks to our reviewers, mass volume testing is ongoing," he said.

The Galaxy Fold is the first foldable smartphone from a major vendor. It was originally slated to ship April 26, but early reviewers ran into problems with broken screens, usually along the hinge line. Samsung averted disaster by delaying launch yet has gone months without a significant update.

The issue has even prompted Huawei to delay its foldable Mate X.

Apple has been exploring the concept of its own foldable devices for years, but there's no sign of them shipping anytime soon. 2019 iPhones are expected to stick with flat OLED and LCD panels.

26 Comments

racerhomie3 7 Years · 1264 comments

About 5 years ago

Really pathetic. Sad really.

ArloTimetraveler 5 Years · 110 comments

One of those obvious things

john f. 18 Years · 112 comments

But at least they were innovative ;-) Albeit prematurely. But really, I still don't see it. Nice gimmick. Something new and shiny, yes. Can't believe some people fall for the trap of "newness". New is not the end station. I want a good implementation.

sflocal 16 Years · 6138 comments

No worry. AvonB7 will chime in shortly with his pro-Samsung stance.

avon b7 20 Years · 8046 comments

sflocal said:

No worry. AvonB7 will chime in shortly with his pro-Samsung stance.

My stance hasn't changed. I think there is a market for these devices. Very small at first due to price mainly, then slowly reaching the premium mass market. The key issue though will be durability in the real world.

This first generation will live or die by that factor alone.

In the Independent piece, the CEO basically goes as far as to admit that they needed to get something out before a competitor could upstage them. It backfired but I'm not going to shoot the product down before it's even released.

Real world performance is what counts, so I'll wait to see how it performs.