Samsung’s first attempt at a foldable smartphone hasn’t exactly set the world on fire, with headlines about its long-delayed release mentioned in the same breath as its myriad design woes and the impossibly high price tag that sets the phone out of reach for most consumers. Nevertheless, Samsung is pressing ahead with an expansion of the foldable’s launch following a release in South Korea and the US.
India, select countries in the Middle East as well as Europe are all next in line to get the Fold, which costs almost $2,000 and nevertheless remains a supremely fragile, novel piece of technology.
Per a new report from SamMobile, the Fold should launch in Poland on October 18, while shipments will begin two days later in India, on October 20. The device is also coming soon to France and Russia, both of which will get the LTE and 5G variants, while only the 5G model is headed to Italy. An LTE version is also tipped to launch in Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Spain, Thailand, South Africa, Australia, and Malaysia.
SamMobile’s report also notes that a 5G variant is coming to Switzerland, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
That’s all well and good — but again, as we noted, there’s still a lot about this device to keep many of the consumers who actually can afford its insane price tag and don’t mind the unusual form factor far away from it. The fragility is one of the biggest obstacles. You’re apparently supposed to pay four figures for a smartphone you’re supposed to … hardly touch. Or something. One journalist’s Fold, for example, was already broken after a day of normal use.
In case you want to know where we stand on all this, my colleague made his assessment as clear as possible: “The idea of spending $2,000 on a smartphone that is undeniably a piece of junk is completely insane.”
