Samsung Cancels Galaxy Fold Pre-Orders in the U.S., Offers $250 Credit as Compensation

[deeddawg]

The problem is that it ends up being much thicker than a typical phone, and much smaller than a typical tablet - a half inch smaller than even the iPad mini. It’s the worst of both worlds.

Yep. The current iteration isn't that great, for reasons you describe, plus my expectation that longevity will be poor.

That was my point.

It's nice to see someone trying -- even though there are issues with the current iteration -- they will hopefully learn, and the manuf. will continue to develop in this space, and in future iterations some number of years from now we'll see adequately thin designs with sufficient screen real estate to be worthwhile.

 

[PotatoLeekSoup]

This thing is an absolute dumpster fire.

 

[ani4ani]

Wow so all 100 that ordered are in for disappointment.

The whole stupid project should be cancelled.

100 more orders than Apple managed for AirPower!

 

[tito2020]

Just few minutes ago mentioned that I wouldn't bet my $2000 on this

What will apple give itunesgift card lol

 

[Schranke]

Look on the bright side, nothing set on fire during this debacle.

Yet...

 

[jagolden]

Remember the $250 credit apple gave for the canceled air power mat?

You mean the one they never took preorders for, right?

 

[Airforcekid]

I'm hoping they get this worked out. It would be nice to have some variety to phones again instead of just a sheet of glass.

 

[ZMacintosh]

why would they need to cancel it if they can re-pre-order in a few weeks anyways? why does the customer even need to know about their behind the scenes unboxing decisions? surprise and delight (that was Apple's way...until they lost it).

 

[jonnyb098]

100 more orders than Apple managed for AirPower!

Yep, Apple is smart enough to cancel a product when it doesn’t work out rather than the obnoxious debacle that this folding piece of garbage became.

 

[Khedron]

Yep, Apple is smart enough to cancel a product when it doesn’t work out rather than the obnoxious debacle that this folding piece of garbage became.

Apple cancelled the iPhone 6?

 

[ani4ani]

Yep, Apple is smart enough to cancel a product when it doesn’t work out rather than the obnoxious debacle that this folding piece of garbage became.

Yea...like they cancelled butterfly keyboards, iPhone 4 and 6, Apple watches (battery expanding issues, cracking screens etc) MacBooks with overheating batteries........

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

Proving that being "first" doesn't always mean anything. If the phone was ready for prime time they wouldn't have to do this.

A lot of Apple's hardware (and software) isn't ready for prime time either and they're rarely first to do anything. The biggest thing a trailblazer can bring to the market is the impetus for innovation and change. Without someone trying to be first (failure or not) nothing moves forward.

 

[TheSapient]

Yep, Apple is smart enough to cancel a product when it doesn’t work out rather than the obnoxious debacle that this folding piece of garbage became.

Apple creates a small number of mainstream devices that are meant to appeal to as many people as possible. Apple can't sell small-batch, envelope-pushing devices, because it would me cancelling one of their big money maters.

Companies like Samsung have a different model that allows them to keep making the mainstream devices even as they push out devices aimed at more high-end, tech-loving customers. And you should be grateful. The iPhone is now loaded with features and design language that was too kooky for the mainstream buyer. Large screen, small bezel, OLED, fast charging, wireless charging, etc. There are even rumors that the S-Pen has been around long enough for styluses to be possible for the iPhone.

When Apple introduces folding screens, it won't be because other companies envisioned their usefulness, developed the tech, and created enough consumer demand that Apple could see profit in it.

 

[supercoolmanchu]

A lot of Apple's hardware (and software) isn't ready for prime time either and they're rarely first to do anything. The biggest thing a trailblazer can bring to the market is the impetus for innovation and change. Without someone trying to be first (failure or not) nothing moves forward.

FYI - More trailblazers were bear snacks than innovators.

Sometimes when a company sends out more bear snacks than getting new trails in return, it’s less trailblazing organization and more of a large predatory wildlife feeding services industry.

Thereby making the bears too slow and lazy to do their jobs thinning out the lesser flora and fauna, while also making lots of useless, crappy, bear-infested paths.

 

[Labeno]

The phone is expensive and experimental, so it's not likely the general masses ordered it. Probably not a big hit to Samsung if only a small handful of people ordered it. For example, if 1000 people ordered it, then that would be a loss of $250,000. Still a nice gesture.

 

[Abazigal]

a lot of smug comments from the usual apple worshippers... humble yourelves

People with MBP 15"s are getting more attention on a plane than a would be terrorist

You may want to search for the galaxy fold thread here that was created after the samsung keynote, and see just how acrimonious the comments were against Apple. It felt like the Macrumours servers would melt from all the criticisms being levelled at Apple, as the syncopates fell over themselves to praise Samsung while putting Apple down.

Not that I want to gloat, but as the saying goes - he who laughs last, laughs best.

Yep. The current iteration isn't that great, for reasons you describe, plus my expectation that longevity will be poor.

That was my point.

It's nice to see someone trying -- even though there are issues with the current iteration -- they will hopefully learn, and the manuf. will continue to develop in this space, and in future iterations some number of years from now we'll see adequately thin designs with sufficient screen real estate to be worthwhile.

You all miss the point.

The problem here isn’t samsung trying. The galaxy fold had an obvious flaw where the slightest bit of dirt would cause the whole screen to conk out. You have to wonder just how this didn’t surface during internal testing. It blows my mind that they screwed this up so royally, and it seems like they shot themselves in the foot by letting even one journalist use one of these things in the real world.

I still think most people are losing the forest for the trees here. I am convinced there is something majorly wrong at Samsung. Did the teams doing the R&D on this tech just hide how bad it was from management? Did they tell management that the tech was bad and management used it anyway? What about those robotic fold tests that claimed the screen could withstand 200,000 folds and still be fine? Were those fake? And if they weren’t fake, did anyone bother trying to use the tested phones afterwards, or did they only care that the screens didn’t physically break after testing?

These issues MUST have come up internally. The people in charge of greenlighting this thing MUST have been at least partially aware. So you have a company betting a significant part of its reputation and future on foldable phones, and probably very interested in selling that same tech to other phone makers, releasing that tech too early and seriously risking its reputation and the tech’s reputation. One of three things happened here: Samsung’s R&D is absolutely awful, Samsung’s R&D people lied to management for whatever reason, or management knew about the problems and didn’t care enough to just delay or cancel the project.

So if I were someone who were passionate about Samsung products, I would be worried about much more than a dud phone. I would be worried about what has happened internally at Samsung that allowed such an important product to misfire so incredibly badly.

 

[frifra]

So people who pre-ordered it have the ability to get it for $250 off if they chose to re-order it and use the credit they received from their intial pre-order? Not a bad deal.

But it will be 300$ more than before. Psst.

 

[bmac89]

Man, $250 for all those people who preordered, Samsung is going to be out hundreds of dollars.

I wonder how much interest Samsung earnt from the pre-order money sitting in the bank.

 

[Exxhara]

That's actually really cool of Samsung. I'd say a free $250 for their store is more than enough of a sorry for the troubled launch.

But at least they did it first though am I rite?

 

[Lalatoon]

$250 in Samsung.com ... someone out there is disappointed they did not pre-ordered

 

[IIGS User]

Folding phones are a pointless gimmick.

even when the technology catches up, it'll be a question of "why".

 

[subjonas]

I wonder how much interest Samsung earnt from the pre-order money sitting in the bank.

Hundreds upon hundreds of cents, I’m sure.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Apple creates a small number of mainstream devices that are meant to appeal to as many people as possible. Apple can't sell small-batch, envelope-pushing devices, because it would me cancelling one of their big money maters.

Companies like Samsung have a different model that allows them to keep making the mainstream devices even as they push out devices aimed at more high-end, tech-loving customers. And you should be grateful. The iPhone is now loaded with features and design language that was too kooky for the mainstream buyer. Large screen, small bezel, OLED, fast charging, wireless charging, etc. There are even rumors that the S-Pen has been around long enough for styluses to be possible for the iPhone.

When Apple introduces folding screens, it won't be because other companies envisioned their usefulness, developed the tech, and created enough consumer demand that Apple could see profit in it.

I’m pretty sure a $6,000 monitor isn’t a mainstream device. Niche, small-batch and envelope pushing—now that I agree with.

But then again, you’re trying to claim Apple isn’t capable of doing that type of product because apparently you don’t think they have sufficient bandwidth

 

[Gutwrench]

For a phone that costs almost $2K, $250 credit is a slap in the face. I would of atleast expected $500 escepically for all the problems this phone has had. I was hyped for this phone and pre-ordered myself but after all this crap and the price tag I just can't justify the price anymore.

A 12% reward for something all you did was express an interest in. Yeah, you were really hosed. Enjoy that entitlement sandwich.

 

[1050792]

Is there a real “need” for a foldable phone or just “cool” to say you have one?

There wasn’t a need of touch screen back then, PDA’s and Blackberry’s were fine. There wasn’t also a need for bigger screens, 3.5” was more than enough. There wasn’t also need for more RAM because 1GB was optimal. There wasn’t also a need for wireless charging because it was a gimmick. There wasn’t need for an OLED screen because LCD was better and more than enough. There wasn’t a need for a fast charger because 5W was more than enough. I can go on...