There are still some important questions that remain to be answered in the wake of Samsung finally confirming Wednesday night that its first foldable phone will finally launch in September after a disastrous and aborted first attempt back in April. For example, the company hasn’t confirmed yet which “select markets” will get the foldable handset first, since it did say that the launch won’t be across-the-board at the outset. Which makes sense, given that this is a $2,000 device with an unusual form factor that won’t appeal to everyone.
It’s also not yet clear which carriers will actually sell it. We actually do know one carrier that’s taking a pass this time around, though. T-Mobile, which was going to carry the phone in stores and online the first time around, has said it’s not going to bother this time.
“T-Mobile will not carry the Galaxy Fold because we already offer customers a wide range of the latest smartphones,” reads a statement the company shared with The Verge. “Please reach out to Samsung for any further inquiries.”
AT&T, the other carrier that was originally going to carry the phone in April, hasn’t weighed in yet. Presumably, they’ll sell the Fold when it finally goes on sale in September, but we’ll have to wait for the official word. AT&T has actually already kinda-sorta commented about the September launch news by telling at least one outlet that it’s “working with Samsung” and doesn’t have anything else to add at the moment, which is certainly a classic non-answer.
It’s worth pointing out — whether or not both or neither of these carriers actually sell the device, the Fold is expected to operate just fine on every major carrier in the US. Today’s news about T-Mobile taking a pass for now, though, is unsurprisingly being read as a knock against Samsung, given that T-Mobile has had no problems in the past carrying devices just outside the mainstream, like OnePlus phones. Hopefully, this is the only negative surprise that will be attached to Samsung’s second attempt at launching the problem-plagued, super-expensive foldable phone that attracted so much hype at first but then crashed and burned so spectacularly.
