Why Samsung Asked iFixit To Pull The Galaxy Fold Teardown

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The Samsung Galaxy Fold has been a much-hyped smartphone due to its foldable screen. However, the company recently decided to delay its launch following reports from early reviewers that their device broke after just a day or two of use. Even iFixit found the Galaxy Fold to be “alarmingly fragile” in its teardown of it. However, the teardown specialists removed their analysis of the device at Samsung’s request. It is possible that iFixit cracked the real reason for the device breaking when it initiated a complete dissection of the phone.

Why was the Galaxy Fold teardown pulled down?

In a post, iFixit said it has removed the Galaxy Fold teardown. However, it did reveal that its analysis supported the suspicion that the device lacks “sufficient protection from debris damaging the screen.”

“We were provided our Galaxy Fold unit by a trusted partner. Samsung has requested, through that partner, that iFixit remove its teardown. We are under no obligation to remove our analysis, legal or otherwise. But out of respect for this partner, whom we consider an ally in making devices more repairable, we are choosing to withdraw our story until we can purchase a Galaxy Fold at retail,” iFixit said in its official post.

iFixit’s post raises one crucial question. Why did Samsung ask iFixit to pull the Galaxy Fold teardown? There may be several reasons.

The first reason could be that Samsung is working on a design change, and it doesn’t want a teardown of the wrong design circulating. The second reason could be that the partner who made the handset available to iFixit wasn’t supposed to do that, so Samsung may just be enforcing a contract. The third reason could be that Samsung was concerned that a teardown might reveal the evident avoidable design flaws in the Galaxy Fold’s design.

We may never know the real reason Samsung requested the removal of the Galaxy Fold teardown. However, we do know that whatever that might reason be, it was certainly bigger than the bad press the company is attracting for asking iFixit to remove it because even before placing the request, Samsung should have known there would be consequences.

Other possible design flaws

As many as five foldable Galaxy phones faltered on the test standards by trusted reviewers. Here are some of the issues other than the broken screens.

According to CNET report, a crease was visible on opening the phone, but mostly on white and black screens. However, once the user is watching a movie, reading an article or playing a game, the crease becomes less visible.

This cannot be attributed entirely to Samsung’s technology prowess. It is because once someone is focused on something, they stop concentrating on the crease. However, the crease and hinge can still be felt when running fingers across the screen. Although not that visible, it might still be an annoyance for users in some cases.

Another possible issue with the Galaxy Fold design is the notch. It bulges and occupies more space than is really required, considering that it holds two camera lenses and two sensors. Upon holding the phone up to the light, one can see dead space toward the right. Although the notch is not a huge disturbance while watching videos and playing games, the notch may not need to be that big.

What is Samsung doing?

Since the Galaxy Fold debuted, reviewers have been complaining about various problems with the device. Samsung initially urged users not to remove the “special protective layer” on the main screen. However, some noted that something so important for the phone should not be as flimsy as the plastic layer is.

To address this, it seems the company is working on adding a warning against removing this protective layer. For the bigger, more important issue, the company initially said it is working on resolving it.

However, Samsung later announced that it was delaying the Galaxy Fold launch. This decision is right from a business perspective, but it might place Samsung in a bad light as users anxiously wait for the device to launch. The company has yet to release a new launch date for the Galaxy Fold. In an email sent to customers who pre-ordered the handset, the company said it will update them on shipping information in two weeks.

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