Unnamed sources from various industries are now coming forward to discuss the repercussions of Samsung’s Galaxy Fold flagship, as the company reportedly reaches out to recall the review units it had previously shipped according to at least one insider. The retrieval effort applies to all Galaxy Fold handsets whether they experienced display failures or not.
Samsung is said to be declining to comment on the matter at hand but the move is likely intended to have a two-fold benefit. The move will not only help show that the company is serious about fixing the problem since the clue may be found in the review units that are broken. It will also move the gadget back out of public view, possibly preventing further damage if the underlying problem turns out to apply to all Samsung Galaxy Fold devices.
In the word’s of an anonymous Samsung employee, halting everything as the investigation continues will be advantageous from a brand perspective too. Namely, it will prevent a faulty gadget from reaching the public while the product is fixed, circumventing another Note 7-like catastrophe for the company.
Impacts of a failure to launch
The failure point that’s led to the display complaints on the as-yet-unreleased Samsung Galaxy Fold is not immediately apparent. In many cases, the reviewers of the now-delayed hybrid flagship had unwittingly removed a thin protective layer resembling a screen protector that was, for all intents and purposes, meant to be a permanent part of the device.
The result of that misstep was flickering, dead, or outright broken screens but other units had similar problems as well as bulging creases. So that doesn’t appear to be the entire problem and Samsung will require time to go through every aspect of the device to determine what the issue actually is.
Since the Samsung Galaxy Fold wasn’t ever given to users on the consumer level, that may not actually be the worst part of this predicament for Samsung but it also won’t bypass suppliers responsible for components on the first-generation device. Both have already reportedly taken damage in their respective financial sectors and Samsung will likely need to start there in its own investigation.
That may start with the supplier responsible for the hinge mechanism on the Samsung Galaxy Fold, KH Vatec but it isn’t clear whether the two companies have already started the process. The company is not making statements at this time.
A person from within KH Vatec is said to have alleged that the supplier has already performed an internal investigation that showed no problems with the component itself.
How long will the delay last
Samsung’s nearly $2,000 folding handset had initially been slated for an official launch on April 26 but it will almost certainly miss that date now. That might result in further damage to its reputation or it might not. Regardless, it is probably the smart move with consideration for problems it has had with previous devices.
There’s no telling how long the delay may last either. Those that had pre-ordered the device will reportedly be informed of the status of their orders within the next couple of weeks. Avoiding safety and reputational issues such as those caused by the fire hazard that was the above-mentioned Galaxy Note 7 is going to be far more important at this point than claiming to be the first to launch a folding smartphone.