Samsung on Tuesday admitted it is still unable to provide a firm release data for its Galaxy Fold foldable smartphone. The company says it has contacted Fold pre-order customers in the U.S. to apologize for the delay.
Reuters reports Samsung has told customers in an email that if the customer does not cancel and the device hasn’t shipped by May 31st, the customer’s order will be automatically cancelled. The sending of the email has been confirmed by a Samsung spokesperson.
Samsung told Reuters that U,S, regulations required the company to notify customers that pre-orders would be cancelled if it doesn’t ship by May 31.
The South Korean device electronics firm had planned to release its $1,980 foldable smartphone on April 26, but delayed the loss after several units sent out to influential reviewer broke during testing.
Samsung recalled the review units and informed pre-order customers on April 22 that it would announce a new release date “in the coming weeks.” The company said it was taking steps to strengthen the device’s display protection. The Fold’s screen proved to be vulnerable to debris getting stuck under the display.
The issue has proven to be an embarrassment for Samsung, as the foldable smartphone/tablet was intended to prove that the company was an innovator in the smartphone market. However, things could have been worse, especially if the issue hadn’t been discovered until the devices were in the hands of customers.
