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It only took 4 months for the future of the smartphone to crash and burn

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It only took 4 months for the future of the smartphone to crash and burn
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The Samsung Galaxy Fold still hasn’t been released.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider; Samantha Lee/Business Insider

Over a decade ago, people around the world started shelving their cellphones — with their static screens and limited applications — to embrace smartphones, which offered large touchscreens for watching movies, playing music, and even browsing the web.

We have loved and lived with these rectangular designs for years. But several months ago we got a glimpse of something new, something that seemed to represent the next evolution of the smartphone.

Imagine holding your phone as it is right now but opening it up like a book and revealing a display that was double the size of your outward-facing screen. That’s the dream of foldable phones, to be both a phone and a tablet in one form factor. Unlike smartphones, which have singular, fixed displays, foldable phones promise more screen real estate when you need it.

When a handful of the biggest smartphone makers in the world announced their first foldable phones in February, it looked as if the world was ready to welcome a new form factor once again. But it took only a few months and a bunch of upset tech reviewers to postpone that dream for the foreseeable future.

In late February, a handful of smartphone makers announced plans to release foldable smartphones in 2019.


Eric Risberg/AP

Samsung surprised everyone expecting to see the new Galaxy S10 phones at its Unpacked 2019 event by debuting its first foldable smartphone at the beginning of the show.


Samsung

Starting at $1,980, Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, with its two screens and five cameras, would be about twice the price of most premium smartphones — about as expensive as a high-end laptop.


Samsung Unpacked 2019

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Galaxy Fold was that it didn’t have some far-off release date. Samsung said the Galaxy Fold would be ready April 26.


Samsung Unpacked 2019

Samsung’s surprising announcement sparked a period of hype around foldable phones.


Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

The same weekend Samsung announced the Galaxy Fold, Huawei — the second-largest smartphone maker in the world behind Samsung — unveiled its own foldable phone, called the Mate X, at Mobile World Congress.


Reuters

Unlike Samsung, Huawei refused to offer a specific release date beyond “later this year.” Some reports said Huawei was hoping to have the Mate X ready by June.

Meanwhile, April 26 — the release date of the first foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold — was fast approaching.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold.

Samsung/YouTube

As the Galaxy Fold’s launch loomed, Samsung began shipping the first units to reviewers and tech publications in early April.


Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

This is when foldable smartphones hit their first rough patch.


Twitter/Mark Gurman

Many journalists and reviewers who received Galaxy Fold review units said their $2,000 devices broke within a day or two of use. Not weeks. Days.


Twitter/Steve Kovach

Samsung did not communicate this at the time, but the Galaxy Fold units came with a thin screen protector, which you can see here. It was not meant to be removed, but many reviewers didn’t know this information and peeled off the protectors. Ensuing issues made the phone unusable.


YouTube/MKBHD

Some Galaxy Fold devices broke even though the screen protector remained intact. In a handful of these cases, dust or debris got between the screen and the protector, creating bubbles in the display and making it unusable in some instances.


Twitter/Dieter Bohn

Not every Galaxy Fold review unit broke, but almost all of them developed creases along the center of the display, where the phone’s hinge is located. To have these issues in just a few short days wasn’t a good look for a $2,000 device.


YouTube/phoneoftime

On April 22, the excitement around foldable phones hit a screeching halt. Just days before the planned launch of the Galaxy Fold, Samsung announced it was delaying its device until further notice.


Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Here’s Samsung’s full comment on the matter, which was shared with The Wall Street Journal:

“We recently unveiled a completely new mobile category: a smartphone using multiple new technologies and materials to create a display that is flexible enough to fold. We are encouraged by the excitement around the Galaxy Fold.

“While many reviewers shared with us the vast potential they see, some also showed us how the device needs further improvements that could ensure the best possible user experience.

“To fully evaluate this feedback and run further internal tests, we have decided to delay the release of the Galaxy Fold. We plan to announce the release date in the coming weeks.

“Initial findings from the inspection of reported issues on the display showed that they could be associated with impact on the top and bottom exposed areas of the hinge. There was also an instance where substances found inside the device affected the display performance.

“We will take measures to strengthen the display protection. We will also enhance the guidance on care and use of the display including the protective layer so that our customers get the most out of their Galaxy Fold.

“We value the trust our customers place in us and they are always our top priority. Samsung is committed to working closely with customers and partners to move the industry forward. We want to thank them for their patience and understanding.”

Read more: Samsung’s wildly ambitious $2,000 folding phone is a disaster for the smartphone giant — here’s what happened

Huawei recently decided to delay its own foldable phone, the Mate X, citing the Samsung Galaxy Fold fiasco as a reason for waiting. “We don’t want to launch a product to destroy our reputation,” a Huawei representative told CNBC.


Reuters

The $2,600 Mate X, which will support 5G, is now expected to launch around September, according to CNBC, but it’s possible we could see further delays.

The Mate X is still expected to run on Google’s Android operating system, even though Huawei has been placed on a US “entity list” requiring American companies to get the federal government’s permission before doing business with it. Huawei says the Mate X was launched before the company was placed on the entity list, preserving its ability to use Android.

Right now, it looks as if many companies are going back to the drawing board with their foldable designs, hoping to prevent another Galaxy Fold fiasco.


US Patent Office/Apple

Since the Galaxy Fold was delayed, we haven’t heard any news about foldable smartphones from Oppo or Xiaomi. It’s possible these companies were also spooked by the failed Galaxy Fold launch, but we haven’t heard one way or the other.

Despite seeing so many promising designs a few months ago, it looks as if 2019 won’t be the year of foldable smartphones after all.


YouTube/MKBHD

Foldable phones may have crashed and burned in 2019, but you shouldn’t count them out just yet. Analysts expect foldable designs, as well as support for 5G, to start becoming available in 2020, which could spark another big upgrade cycle.


Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Samsung suffered an embarrassing moment with the initial Galaxy Fold launch, but the company still plans to release its phone — and it’s just a matter of time before other companies do the same. Regardless of the high cost and risks associated with these kinds of phones, people will still buy these things. (Our take: There are plenty of reasons you should avoid any first-generation product, particularly foldable phones.)

Foldable phones, whenever they’re ready, are expected to drive a big replacement cycle, according to a UBS research note published in May. The report mentioned that foldable phones and 5G will “drive more of an innovation-led replacement cycle than is currently the case” next year, in 2020, and that consumers see value in these new form factors and will feel compelled to buy them.

The first foldable smartphones are going to be very expensive, but hopefully over time the cost of making them will drop enough so more companies can build them and more consumers can get their hands on them. Maybe then foldable phones will have their day in the sun and overtake the traditional rounded-rectangle design. But it’s not going to happen this year — it’s going to be awhile.

More:

Smartphones
Foldable phones
Foldable smartphones
Foldables

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