SAMSUNG Electronics has announced that it will launch the world’s first foldable smartphone on Friday in South Korea, after the company was forced to delay its release due to technical issues.
The surprise company statement on Thursday announced that the Galaxy Fold, equipped with a 7.3-inch (18.5cm) folding screen called Infinity Flex, will also soon be available in other countries including France, Germany, Singapore, the UK and the United States, and that in certain regions it will have an option to connect to the 5G network.
In April, the South Korean company was forced to postpone its launch in the US just three days before it was scheduled, after a series of faults were detected on the touchpad and hinges of the devices provided to several journalists for trial.
The case brought back memories of a fiasco suffered by the company in 2016, when Galaxy Note 7 faced issues because of faulty batteries, which forced Samsung to recall some 2.5 million devices, resulting in an operational loss of several billion dollars.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW
Doubts about the feasibility of foldable technology led Chinese company Huawei, one of Samsung’s main competitors, to delay the launch of its Mate X until November.
In Thursday’s statement, Samsung claimed that over the past few months they had refined the Galaxy Fold, a device that according to the head of the company’s mobile communication branch, DJ Koh, defied the barriers of traditional smartphone design.