Samsung Galaxy Fold display failures raise specter of Note 7 fiasco

“Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it has received ‘a few’ reports of damage to the displays of samples of its upcoming [Galaxy Fold] foldable smartphone, raising the prospect of a less-then-smooth entry for the splashy $1,980 handset,” Angela Moon and Ju-min Park report for Reuters. “Ahead of the launch, journalists supplied with review samples reported malfunctions after only a day or two of use.”
“‘We will thoroughly inspect these units … to determine the cause of the matter,’ Samsung said in a statement,” Moon and Park report. “The malfunctions raised the specter of Samsung’s doomed Galaxy Note 7 phone three years ago. Battery and design flaws in the Note 7 resulted in some units catching fire or exploding, forcing Samsung to recall and cancel sales of the model. The recall wiped out nearly all profit of Samsung’s mobile division in the third quarter of 2016.”
“Technology journalists took to Twitter on Wednesday to report instances of the screen either cracking or flickering,” Moon and Park report. “‘I think as time goes on its yield rate will improve, and foldables that customers have in hand will be much better,’ said analyst Lee Kyu-ha at NH Investment & Securities. ‘But I don’t know if Samsung can completely fix the problem about screens.'”

The screen on my Galaxy Fold review unit is completely broken and unusable just two days in. Hard to know if this is widespread or not. pic.twitter.com/G0OHj3DQHw
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) April 17, 2019

After one day of use… pic.twitter.com/VjDlJI45C9
— Steve Kovach (@stevekovach) April 17, 2019

SUPER YIKES: something happened to my Galaxy Fold screen and caused a bulge. I don’t know how it happened, and I’m waiting to hear back from Samsung. It’s broken. https://t.co/p1014uB01D pic.twitter.com/3FZJkWtSKr
— Dieter Bohn (@backlon) April 17, 2019

Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Now that this has hit Reuters, it will be picked up worldwide and spread mainstream. Have a nice weekend, upcoming quarter, and beyond, IP-trampling slavish copiers!
SEE ALSO:
CNBC reviews Samsung Galaxy Fold: Completely unusable after just two days of use – April 17, 2019
The Verge reviews Samsung Galaxy Fold: Screen broke after just a day – April 17, 2019
Samsung Galaxy Fold display issues emerge immediately – April 17, 2019
Ugly wrinkle for Samsung: Galaxy Fold sports a nasty crease running down the middle of the display – March 21, 2019
absolute joke – March 14, 2019
Apple’s glass supplier says it’ll be ready for real, durable foldable iPhones within ‘a couple of years’ – March 5, 2019
Apple patent application reveals foldable iPhone with self-heating display, lock-out mechanism to protect against cold weather damage – February 28, 2019
If Apple does a foldable iPhone, then folding phones will have been done right – February 28, 2019