The issues with the Samsung Galaxy Fold have been well publicised but it is unclear just how the phone was released into reviewers’ and influencers’ hands before it was truly ready for market.
In Soeul, South Korea, Samsung CEO DJ Koh told media that the Galaxy Fold introduction was part of their new philosophy to “make what can’t be made and do what can’t be done”. Unfortunately the Galaxy Fold was a victim of this thinking without enough testing.
It was embarrassing. I pushed it through before it was ready.DJ Koh, Samsung CEO
Mr Koh admitted that the pressure they felt from the Huawei Mate X and it’s readiness caused them to push out the Galaxy Fold earlier than they should have without enough testing. At the moment they are currently testing over 2,000 units in every single aspect.
We defined all the issues. Some issues we didn’t even think about, but thanks to our reviewers, mass volume testing is ongoing.
Samsung are standing by the foldable form factor though as they feel that smartphones have hit a ceiling and the future will be about 5G and the IoT and their interconnectivity. They see that the smartphone market may decrease but at the same time they expect new devices to emerge to fill that void.
When pushed on when we should expect to see the Galaxy Fold in the hands of consumers Mr Koh was very coy, giving nothing away:
In due course. Give us a bit more time.
Can’t blame them, they wanted to be first on the scene but backfired.
i think the problem lies with everyone using devices differently so it is difficult to identify all issues…