(Bloomberg) — Some test models of Samsung Electronics Co.’s new foldable phone have suffered defects after only days of use, casting a shadow over next week’s introduction of a $1,980 device meant to rejuvenate a flagging market and showcase the Asian company’s technology expertise.
Several publications, including Bloomberg News, outlined a bevy of problems with test versions of the device, which folds inward like a notebook. Bloomberg’s review unit experienced issues after a plastic protective layer was removed on Monday. By Tuesday night, a small tear had developed at the top of the hinge, where the gadget opens. Then the display failed to operate properly. Samsung representatives on Thursday said they had no immediate comment.
The Korean company suffered a black-eye with a previous major launch in 2016, when it recalled the Galaxy Note 7 after consumers reported issues with batteries that burst into flame. The world’s largest smartphone maker is counting on ground-breaking gadgets to propel growth and excite consumers as demand for mobile devices flattens.
Pre-orders began Monday for a marquee device expected to usher in a wave of smartphones that can unfurl into tablets. The Galaxy Fold’s 7.3-inch screen teased how users can juggle three apps at once and view video with more clarity.
In one of the more serious apparent flaws, the inner screen stopped working. First, the left side of the display went dark — then the right side developed problems before also failing completely. Other reviewers reported similar issues, including flickering visuals and how the area around the central hinge lost viewable pixels. The external display still functioned for Bloomberg’s review team when the phone is closed. Separately, the demo unit’s screen retained permanent marks wherever a fingernail made contact during the course of use.
Other reviewers however reported no major issues with the gadgets Samsung provided. In an email sent Tuesday — a day after providing the demo units — it asked media not to remove a “special protective layer.” The device’s packaging didn’t discourage the attempt however, and the sheet seemed similar to the protective films that come with most phones, tablets, and TVs right out of the box.
While it’s still too early to gauge how much demand there will be for smartphones with flexible screens, Samsung and other rivals are eager to gain an edge over Apple Inc. in the $495 billion industry. Samsung had forecast it will produce at least 1 million foldable phones this year, a fraction of its overall shipments in 2018. Huawei Technologies Co., Xiaomi Corp. and Lenovo Group Ltd.’s Motorola are all working on foldable phones. Research firm Gartner expects the overall market to expand to 30 million units by 2023.
Samsung — which spent eight years on the Galaxy Fold — is also developing a clamshell-like foldable phone and another that folds outward, Bloomberg News reported last month. The company envisions smartphones with rollable and stretchable displays, Samsung Executive Vice President Chung Eui-suk said in February.
Even before reports of the review models’ issues surfaced, there had been questions about the general durability of foldable phones. The company has released footage of machines repeatedly opening and closing the phone in what it dubbed an “extremity test.”
(Corrects year of Note 7 recall in the third paragraph.)
To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Gurman in San Francisco at [email protected];Sam Kim in Seoul at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Giles at [email protected], Edwin Chan, Peter Elstrom
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