Galaxy Fold's launch delayed

Samsung should use incident to turn misfortune into blessing

Samsung Electronics has decided to postpone the release of its Galaxy Fold smartphone in the United States. The decision will likely cause a backlash, as it came only three days before the scheduled launch of what Samsung had advertised as the world's first "foldable phone."

Still, it was just as well that Samsung has prevented far more substantial damage through the pre-emptive move made ahead of the phone's release. However, the world's largest tech company, however, should look humbly back on its poor initial handling of criticism of flaws in its demo products.

Announcing its decision, Samsung said, "Preliminary inspections of recalled products found some impacts on the top and lower parts of the hinge mechanism where the folding screen is exposed, and signs of damage on displays caused by an alien substance." When reports first came out on May 15 pointing to critical defects in the products provided to U.S. media reviewers and YouTubers, however, Samsung attributed it to users' mistakenly removing the display's protective film.

Samsung officials should engage in some introspection for having revealed their anxiety to win another "world's first" title. The company had a hard time in 2016, too, when its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones caught fire because of battery problems. Samsung was forced to announce a complete recall just two weeks after its release, and even stopped production two months later, causing severe damage to its reputation.

It's a good thing the company has minimized property damage and prevented a further slide in credibility, but the ongoing state of affairs poses many challenges for Samsung. In the short term, it should investigate what caused the flaws and come up with damage prevention measures. It should also enhance product maturity and communicate better with consumers.

Samsung executives and employees should not be the only ones who want to remain "market leaders," and not losing industrial leadership to China in the 5G era, given the tremendous effects the company's setback could have on the Korean economy. We hope Samsung will make the most of its ongoing trials and challenges as an occasion to turn evils into blessings.