After several months of delays, Samsung’s Galaxy Fold—the company's first phone with a display that folds out—debuted Friday, giving the consumer electronics giant a temporary leg up in the premium smartphone sector.
Technical glitches, most notably the display screen cracking, held back the introduction of the much-heralded premium smartphone, which will reportedly cost a steep $1,980. Galaxy Fold will initially be sold in Korea before heading to the remainder of Asia and Europe, and eventually the United States.
Samsung has made several design modifications on the final version of Galaxy Fold. The phone has caps to prevent dust from getting under the screen, and an extended polymer screen protector that reaches underneath the phone bezel. The revised display screen adds a metal layer atop the cushioning layer to add protection against cracking.
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The introduction of Galaxy Fold comes at a time when smartphone competition remains as fierce as ever, despite a dropoff in sales of some phones recently.
Huawei, for example, is rumored to be equipping its upcoming Mate 30 Pro flagship phone with two 40 MP cameras, plus one 8 MP telephoto lens with 5x zoom. This phone will also incorporate the Kirin 990 5G chipset, which reportedly outperforms Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855.
Apple is reportedly set to launch several new iPhone models later this month.