Though the Galaxy Fold had a shaky start in the market, Samsung is committed to perfecting its new form factor and making it a consumer staple.
After a cautious pre-order based release between late September and mid-October, customers in South Korea can purchase the foldable handset without prior intent, according to SamMobile, Samsung decided to increase its availability of the Galaxy Fold after the device received a positive response, with several preorder batches quickly selling out. There are reports suggesting the Galaxy Fold has sold over 500,000 handsets since becoming available in Korea on September 26. There is no word on whether Samsung plans to expand its Galaxy Fold unit availability in other markets.
The device is also available in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Singapore, and most recently, India. The Galaxy Fold is expected to release in Japan on October 25, with availability in Poland, Mexico, Switzerland also set for around this time. The device is also expected to release in China on November 1.
While the foldable does appear to have been received well by many reviewers and the public with access to the device, Samsung remains ginger with the Galaxy Fold. Upon rerelease, the smartphone was innodated with a number of warnings of its fragility and tips about care. This hasn’t stopped many from putting the foldable through its paces, testing its durability through teardowns, drop tests, and folding tests, in which the Galaxy Fold is opened and closed several hundred thousand times in a mechanical contraption.
So far, there have been one or two instances of users experiencing pixel disturbances on the foldable screen of the Galaxy Fold, but there have been no major catastrophes matching what happened to the original model before its initial intended release in April.
Never the less, it appears Samsung may take what it has learned from the Galaxy Fold and quickly apply those lessons to future devices. A report from ETNews suggests that the manufacturer aims to sell between five and six million foldable smartphones in 2020. The device maker has supposedly already ramped up its foldable display production in the wake of increased demand of the current Galaxy Fold. There are also several rumors and design details already circulating about future Samsung Foldables.
There is word from that Samsung may release a Galaxy Fold 2 model in April 2020, with either a 6.7-inch or 8.1-inch main display. There may also be a cheaper Galaxy Fold model in the pipeline, supporting 256GB of internal storage. Samsung may also be looking to update its foldable display to an “Ultra Thin Glass” for a clamshell-style foldable with a vertical folding axis. Much earlier rumors suggested Samsung has plans for an outward folding device and that there may be a model that supports an S-Pen stylus. More recent reports that Samsung may attempt display-embedded cameras on future Galaxy Folds with an updated ‘Hole In Active Area’ technology or a hole-punch.
Many of the reports are so disjointed it’s hard to associate the feature rumors with any specific device. There may be few concrete details until companies begin showcasing new technologies at conferences, such as CES in early January.
Meanwhile, the current Galaxy Fold is still receiving tweaks to its system. The device recently received a software update giving it some of the camera features, introduced on Samsung Galaxy Note 10, including Night Mode for selfies and AR Doodle.
