Samsung Galaxy Fold to launch in Korea on 6 September, no word on SA date

The Samsung Galaxy Fold could launch as early as next week, a report straight from South Korea suggests.

Said report, which stems from publication YNA and was first spotted by Android Central, reveals that Samsung is planning to launch its foldable smartphone on 6 September.

For those near a calendar, that’s also the day that the largest European tech trade show, Berlin’s IFA, kicks off in Germany. Traditionally, a slew of devices make their bow at this event too.

The Galaxy Fold pre-release story

For an unreleased device, the Galaxy Fold has been marred by controversy and quite literal broken promises.

The phone was initially set to launch in April, but a number of pre-release samples sent out to reviewers broke. Issues seemingly stemmed from the phone’s hinge, and its display which was coated in a protective plastic layer, which some reviewers erroneously removed.

Aware of the issues, Samsung then pulled the launch and asked reviewers to return their devices.

Less than a week later, the company confirmed that “further improvements” needed to be made to the device.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold was set for launch in April, but issues have delayed it for more than three months

A number of silent months then followed from Samsung, but in July, rumours suggested that the phone would make an appearance in September.

Samsung itself then confirmed that the phone’s all but ready for launch, and will likely debut in South Africa in September too.

If the Fold does debut next month, it would be a full two months before its primary foldable rival, Huawei Mate X, the Chinese company’s foldable smartphone which was also delayed.

Even worse for Huawei is the potential software-related issues its future devices will have to face, thanks to US President Donald Trump and Google.

The official launch date for the Samsung Galaxy Fold remains up in the air, at least for the US, UK, and South Africa. But what remains to be seen is the price.

Before its redesign, the phone was set to retail for $1980 (more than R30 000). Will it remain at that price, or have the repairs made it even pricier?

Feature image: The initial unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy Fold in February at the 2019 Unpacked event, via Samsung