Samsung CEO admits Galaxy Fold launch was ’embarrassing’

It’s no secret that Samsung’s Galaxy Fold launch didn’t exactly go as planned. And while we still don’t have an official launch date for Samsung’s first foldable smartphone, at least the company’s ready to admit that it fumbled the ball on this one. 

Speaking to a group of reporters in Seoul, Samsung CEO DJ Koh said that the Fold launch was “embarrassing,” and that he’d pushed for it to happen “before it was ready,” the Independent reported Monday. 

Samsung’s foldable phone was originally slated for an April launch, but the company postponed it after several reviewers reported serious issues with their Fold units. Since then, the company kept saying the launch date would be announced “in the coming weeks,” but no official date has been revealed. 

Koh wasn’t ready to share a new date, either, but he did unveil some details about the efforts Samsung has undertaken to fix the Fold’s problem. He says that more than 2,000 Fold devices are currently being tested, and that all the issues that plagued the Fold have been defined. 

While that sounds promising, it’s worth noting that Koh said something similar in early May, implying that the launch is imminent. It’s been nearly two months since then. 

Samsung’s head of global marketing strategy, Stephanie Choi, placed some of the blame on Samsung’s innovation drive, saying that one of the company’s slogans was “do what you can’t,” the Independent reported. 

The foldable phones space has so far been more notable for what didn’t occur than what did. In June, Huawei delayed its foldable phone, the Mate X, quoting Samsung’s fumbled Fold launch as a reason. The company is now aiming for a September launch. And a recent report from Korea claimed that Samsung is working on a second foldable phone, aiming to launch it before Huawei launches its Mate X. So, between now and September we might see three foldable phones launch, but the way things have been going so far, I wouldn’t be too surprised if we see none.