The Reason Why Samsung's First Galaxy Fold Failed

Samsung Electronics unveiled its foldable smartphone Galaxy Fold on February 20th, 2019. Samsung has previously released a flexible AMOLED display smartphone (Galaxy Round SM-G910S, strictly it is a ‘curved’ display not ‘flexible’ display). Unlike Galaxy Round which has no practical advantage other than a technical flaunting, Galaxy Fold has a large practical significance as it can vary in size depending on its use.

Huawei revealed foldable smartphone (Huawei Mate X) before Samsung. If Samsung Galaxy Fold comes out before Huawei Mate X, Galaxy Fold would have been the world’s first folding display smartphone. If Huawei Mate X comes out first, Samsung Galaxy Fold would have been the world’s first inward-folding display smartphone (Huawei Mate X is outward-folding display smartphone). It was scheduled to be officially released on April 26, 2019. However, the launch was delayed after several problems were found with people who had tried it before it was released. Samsung recently announced that it will release the product in late July. However, it is uncertain whether this will happen.

The Western Roman Empire ended in 476. The main reason for the fall of the western Roman Empire is probably invasions by Barbarian tribes. However, there are also a lot of subsidiary causes about this. Why Barbarian tribes invaded the Western Roman Empire, why the Western Roman Empire became weaker, etc. These are intricate questions and their analyses could fill a book.

The fall of Samsung Galaxy Fold is similar. The main reason for the fall of Samsung Galaxy Fold is lack of completeness of the product. However, there are also several subsidiary factors about this. Why did Samsung try to release Galaxy Fold prematurely, factors that reduce the completeness of the product that Samsung didn't think of, etc.

In this regard, there are already many analyses. I'd like to look at two aspects. Obsession with the world’s first and the screen protector issues.

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1. Obsession with the world’s first

Samsung tried to release the product too hasty because Huawei was planning to release foldable smartphone. By launching the product before Huawei, Samsung wanted to become the world’s first manufacturer of foldable smartphone.

However, this ‘the world’s first’ is not that important to consumers. What matters is not ‘the world’s first’, but ‘the world’s best’.

For example, Apple iPhone was not the world’s first smartphone (I like to compare Samsung with Apple.). The reason why people were enthusiastic about the iPhone was that the iPhone was the most complete smartphone, or the world’s best smartphone at that time (incidentally, when Steve Jobs presented the first iPhone, it is said that it was not the finished product. So, he frequently switched phones during the presentation.). If the iPhone had major flaws since the product’s launch, there would have been no glory of Apple today.

So, Samsung should have corrected the product’s flaws before the prototype was unveiled or the release of the product at the latest. Even if launch is delayed, and even if Samsung missed 'the world's first' title as a result.

2. The screen protector issue

The second is the screen protector issue. Those who tried Galaxy Fold in advance reported several flaws and Samsung attributed some flaws to the removal of the protective layer. Samsung included a warning on the outer wrapper that suggests users not remove the protective layer and reiterated not to remove it.

However, these measures are inappropriate. Most of the consumers, including me, rarely read a warning or manuals. And only a few of the consumers check the company’s notice. Moreover, whether to remove the screen protector was not a problem with the previous smartphones.

Consumers don’t put their phones in the water because it’s common sense not to put electronics in the water. Waterproof products, of course, are an exception, and companies appeal this through advertising.

However, this is not the case for the screen protector. Those who use the phone without the screen protector would have removed it as usual.

Therefore, Samsung should have made the screen protector inseparable, or should have made the phone that doesn't affect its use even if the screen protector doesn't exist.

As mentioned earlier, the launch was delayed, and its release date is not clear. But, no matter how late the release is, Samsung will have to make up for not only all the technical flaws found, but also the problems that may arise from the general use of consumers.

History may remember the world’s first. But to companies, what is more important than history would be commercial success, or survival.

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