Samsung’s $2,000 folding phone will hit stores this week following a months-long design delay.
The Galaxy Fold, which was originally due to hit shelves in the spring, will finally go on sale in the US on Friday — for $1,980. The phone’s unveiling was postponed after gadget bloggers’ reports of review unit malfunctions quickly spread across Twitter — a week before its April 26 launch.
The problem was that a thin protective layer — meant to keep the phone’s screen together when folded or unfolded — had only gone up to the screen’s edge. That led tech reviewers to peel it off, thinking it was a screen protector.
Techies who removed the plastic layer reported blacked-out or flickering screens. Other reviewers said the phones were breaking at their hinges.
The South Korean tech giant is hoping its highly anticipated foldable phone will revive flagging smartphone sales. The delays cost Samsung sales that could have provided a decent bump in revenue during the slow summer season.
Samsung said earlier that it planned to make at least 1 million Fold handsets in the first year, versus the total 300 million phones it produces annually on average.
The Fold will be available unlocked or with an AT&T plan at Best Buy locations as well as at Samsung stores on Sept. 27.