Flip, flop, fold: Samsung takes second stab at folding phone release

Korean tech giant Samsung has launched its revolutionary folding smartphone. Again.

The Galaxy Fold, which has a starting retail price of $US1,980, or just over $2,900, is now available in South Korea, and is expected to be available in ‘select’ countries (including the US, the UK, France, Germany and Singapore) within weeks.

It is currently unclear when the phone will be available to Aussie customers.

The futuristic flip phone was first unveiled back in February this year. However, in April, just three days before the phones were due to hit stores, the release was delayed.

That delay came in response to a swathe of scathing reviews.

Reviewers and journalists who got their hands on a model early brewed up a Twitter storm, dubbed #FoldGate, with reports of screens breaking after just a few folds, or of people peeling off a protective layer that, as it turns out, was not supposed to be peeled.

In a statement at the time, Samsung said some reviewers saw “vast potential” in the product. But, it delayed the launch to run internal tests, promising to improve display protection.

Now, it says it has addressed these problems.

“Not only we [sic] improved the Galaxy Fold’s design and construction, but also took the time to rethink the entire consumer journey,” Samsung said in a press release.

DJ Koh, president and chief of Samsung’s IT and mobile communications division said the device “defied the barriers of traditional smartphone design”.

Consumers have now responded positively, he said.

“This is what we call innovation of new mobile experience in action.”

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