Samsung Galaxy Fold Wasn't Ready for Launch, Admits Mobile Chief, Calls the Whole Episode ‘Embarrassing’

As the world awaits the release of Galaxy Fold, Samsung's mobile chief DJ Koh has come out and accepted blame for pushing out its first foldable smartphone “before it was ready”. Samsung Galaxy Fold was originally supposed to be released in late-April, but before that could happen, a number of early reviewers of the phone claimed how the phone's display didn't even last a couple days before showing problems or just breaking down. The phone has since been indefinitely delayed.

In an interview with The Independent and select other media houses in Seoul, DJ Koh, President and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics, said, “it was embarrassing. I pushed it through before it was ready.”

Since the start of 2019, foldable phones had been talk of the town until the Galaxy Fold debacle. Pretty much all major smartphone makers had dropped hints that they were working on foldable smartphones and the likes of Huawei even announced a Galaxy Fold competitor in the form of Mate X. It seems Samsung did not want to be left behind, so the company rushed out with properly testing the smartphone. Huawei has also since postponed the release of Mate X.

“I do admit I missed something on the foldable phone, but we are in the process of recovery,” Koh said. “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.”

At this point, there is no fixed release date for Galaxy Fold. The company is unlikely to offer a new date until and unless it is fully satisfied with the phone and all the fixes that have been made. The company, however, is still confident that it will be able to release the smartphone, no matter the delay.