Our Samsung Galaxy Fold Broke After Two Days

CNBC's Todd Haselton offers a look at the new $2,000 Samsung Galaxy Fold, which is the talk of this year's Mobil World Congress.

Samsung's $1,980 Galaxy Fold phone is breaking for some users after a day or two of use. A review unit given to CNBC by Samsung is also completely unusable after just two days of use.

Shares of Samsung Electronics dropped more than 3 percent on Thursday after multiple accounts emerged of its cutting-edge folding phone breaking ahead of the device’s retail launch.

The phone, named the Galaxy Fold and priced at $1,980, has only been given to gadget reviewers so far, but several people have reported that their screens appear to be disconnecting and permanently flashing on or off.

Samsung started taking pre-orders for the Galaxy Fold last weekend, but quickly ran out of availability, suggesting supply is constrained at least until its retail launch.

The wider technology sector in South Korea also saw declines on the day, with shares of SK Hynix and LG Electronics declining 1.25 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

Samsung’s stock decline was related to the early reports of the Galaxy Fold breaking, said Daniel Yoo, head of global strategy and research at Kiwoom Securities. On top of that, investors were also responding to concerns about Samsung’s part in the roll out of the next generation 5G wireless standard, he added.

“With Qualcomm and Apple deal, expectation for 5G was very high, ” Yoo said.

Apple and Qualcomm settled a longstanding legal dispute over royalties earlier this week, with the settlement including a payment from Apple to Qualcomm as well as a chipset supply agreement, suggesting that the Cupertino-based tech giant will buy Qualcomm’s chips for future iPhones.

Analysts had previously said that the dispute between Qualcomm and Apple could slow down Apple’s plans to support next-generation 5G networks, with the former being one of the top suppliers of chips that can connect to 5G networks. The agreement opens up the possibility that Apple could release a 5G iPhone sooner than expected with Qualcomm’s modem technology.

At present, however, Samsung’s Galaxy S10 and Fold devices are “leading” the way among phones with 5G potential, according to Yoo.

“If there is any chance of demand slowdown due to quality control, this will have quite significant negative impact on the IT sector as a whole,” Yoo said, noting that demand for chips in the first half of 2019 was already weak.

For its part, Samsung said in a statement that it was looking into the reports of broken Galaxy Folds:

A limited number of early Galaxy Fold samples were provided to media for review. We have received a few reports regarding the main display on the samples provided. We will thoroughly inspect these units in person to determine the cause of the matter.

Separately, a few reviewers reported having removed the top layer of the display causing damage to the screen. The main display on the Galaxy Fold features a top protective layer, which is part of the display structure designed to protect the screen from unintended scratches. Removing the protective layer or adding adhesives to the main display may cause damage. We will ensure this information is clearly delivered to our customers.

Commenting on the reports about the Galaxy Fold breaking, Yoo said they appeared “over-stretched.”

The current concerns and correction will be “limited in the short term,” with the issues faced by the device likely to be solved before its launch, he said.


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Our Samsung Galaxy Fold Broke After Two Days

[CNBC]

Is there any feature that would make you spend $2, 000 on a phone?

[leosantos]

My samsung fold didn't get broken. It just made me broke af.

[DerekSpeareDSD]

...so ya...we're back to flip phones now...

[zincqi]

"iT cAN RuN 3 apPs aT ThE saME tiMe!"
Computer: Am I a joke to you?

Thank you for all the likes :)

[madboyreadynow]

You should never buy the first generation of anything. And never pay anything close to $2k for a phone.

[egoruderico]

“People are holding on their phones for 3 to 4 years”

Well, if they didn’t cost more than a laptop I would buy more often.

[grazmsp]

A phone that broke, and at the same time, makes you broke

[pussinjordans]

Samsung: we are the first company to create folding phones

Motorola: hold my beer

[lolobotius]

Galaxy Note 7: I am the most unsuccessful and scandalous Samsung phone ever
Galaxy Folds: Hold my screen protector

[whensue]

"Our Galaxy Phone broke within 2 days..." "But let me just show you how much fun we had with the phone within those 2 days..."

[miniena]

That’s because you’re incompetent and peeled off the protective f—
Oh, never mind.

[BlackWhite-okvj]

Iphone user : my iphone is broken after a year

Galaxy fold user : hold my beer

[ihma.h]

and exactly *why* do we need folding phones? 🤔

[antastasia]

Samsung: First foldable phone!!

Flip phones: Am I a Joke to you?

[egkaitouni]

So will it be discounted to $1000 if only half of the screen is functional?

[kermitthefrog]

Who's watching on a Samsung fold




Not me

[NYCGemini]

Apple is somewhere happy right now that Samsung’s product is having problems lol

[ExE_]

Easy, instead of just buying this, buy *two* s10s, then some tape and done, you got your Galaxy fold

[desireesmith]

Samsung: we need to make a new phone
*tapes two phones together*
Samsung: We did it! And it folds too!
Motorola: ༼ ಥ ‿ ಥ ༽

[gavinhelgeson]

Technically it’s a foldable tablet, the phone aspect does not fold.