Samsung reportedly completes Galaxy Fold redesign, release date still unknown
AppleInsider StaffBroken Galaxy Fold review unit. | Source: Steve Kovach via Twitter
Samsung has reportedly finished a redesign of its Galaxy Fold smartphone following an ignominious pre-launch promotional campaign that saw pre-release review hardware fail in droves.
According to people briefed on the matter, Samsung is in the final stages of producing a version of the Fold fit for commercial use, Bloomberg said in a report Tuesday.
The Korean tech giant spent the last two months tweaking the design of its folding smartphone after early review units succumbed to widespread screen failures.
Many reviewers found reliability issues with the 7.3-inch OLED panel, which folds along a central hinge line. After repeated folding and unfolding, users saw a noticeable crease in the display that brought with it corrupted graphics that in some cases resulted in one half of the panel becoming completely non-functional. Others attempted to remove a display layer they claim appeared to be a screen protector, breaking the OLED panel and rendering the device useless.
The unexpected hardware issues forced Samsung to call off a launch originally scheduled for April.
It seems Samsung is looking to combat user error by designing Fold's top screen layer as a clearly integral part of the device. Sources say the "film" is stretched around the entire screen and continues into the outer bezels, making it impossible to remove by hand. Further, the hinge has been reconfigured to sit flush with the display, stretching the film when the device is opened.
With the added tension, the layer feels more like an original component rather than an accessory, the report said. The redesigned hinge mechanism might also prevent a crease from developing in the center of the screen.
Samsung will begin shipping components like the display and battery for final assembly in Vietnam in the near future, the report said. However, the redesigned Fold is unlikely to be ready in time for debut at Samsung's upcoming Unpacked event on Aug. 7.
At Unpacked, Samsung is expected to unveil its next-generation Galaxy Note 10 phablet, a high-end device that stretches the boundary between smartphone and tablet. Rumors point to a multi-array camera system, 5G integration and a model that boasts a massive 6.75-inch screen.
News of the Fold's redesign arrives some two weeks after Samsung Display Vice President Kim Seong-cheol at an industry conference said, "Most of the display problems have been ironed out" and that the device is "ready to hit market." More recently, Samsung Electronics CEO D.J. Koh admitted the Fold was introduced prematurely.
"It was embarrassing. I pushed it through before it was ready," Koh said in a statement this week. "I do admit I missed something on the foldable phone, but we are in the process of recovery."
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
Marko Zivkovic
David Schloss
Wesley Hilliard
Mike Wuerthele and Malcolm Owen
64 Comments
Doesn't sound rushed at all /s
A theoretical redesign is done. Maybe.
But the hardware isn’t ready yet.
Samsung will need to go through many more revisions and generations of material manufacture.
Its an interesting, if useless, idea whose time has not yet come.
So shameful that they put it to market KNOWING it was a failure.
And now they want to recoup the investment prematurely yet again by claiming a redesign.
What. The. Actual. Heck.
Sure, I bet the screen layer that everyone was peeling off has been executed better. But the screen will still suffer, the thing will still be thick as a brick - only worse due to a bigger gap where the fold crease was. They’ll try to have it fold into a rounded shape instead of a crease and it will look terrible and still break down.
Thankfully the Steaming Pile v1 broke right away. Otherwise, customers would have been stuck. And knowing Samsung, who knows if they’d have admitted the defect? They’d have waited for a class action while using the upfront customer money to pay for their investments. It’s sickening and their mobile brand is tarnished.
If Apple did this, they’d be slaughtered in the media.
Samsung trots our their boy who says “My bad” and the media LOOKS FORWARD TO V2.
Talk about reality distortion fields.
This is such a dumb idea.
Samsung - Twice bitten, never shy.
I wonder if the film stretching across the outer bezels will prevent the gap in the centre when the device is folded.