Network Interworing Tests Underway
Samsung Electronics is expected to launch the foldable smartphone “Galaxy Fold” after this June. The company is carrying out network interworking tests after supplying samples of the foldable phone to mobile carriers. With this news coming out, a majority of experts speculated that the Galaxy Fold would be released this June. However, quality stabilization work is taking more time than expected.
Samsung Electronics also set the launch date for the Galaxy Fold in June, but now expects that more time will be needed to ensure that the quality of its products has been stabilized.
Regarding the launch date, Samsung Electronics sticks to the position it held in April when it first announced a delay: “We will provide specific shipping information in the coming weeks.”
On May 6, the company sent email to its U.S. customers that it would provide them with specific shipping information “in the coming weeks.”
Industry watchers expect the smartphone giant to make an announcement on the release schedule next month.
As China’s Huawei is unlikely to launch its foldable smartphone model in July due to U.S. sanctions, smartphone industry analysts say that Samsung Electronics now has more time to launch the Galaxy Fold. They say that Samsung Electronics may launch the foldable smartphone in July as the next model of the Galaxy Note will be unveiled in the second half of this year.
"The release schedule has not been set, and we will announce the release schedule for the Galaxy Fold in the coming weeks," Samsung Electronics said.
Earlier, Best Buy, a U.S. consumer electronics retailer, canceled its order for the Galaxy Fold, saying that Samsung has not informed it of the new release date for the phone.
In the meantime, unless Samsung Electronics launches the Galaxy Fold by May 31, pre-order customers who have not shown their intention to purchase the foldable phone will be automatically notified that their pre-orders will be canceled. Therefore, pre-orders by customers who have not chosen to maintain their will to purchase the Galaxy Fold will be automatically scratched off on May 31.