Samsung is going forward with plans to start selling its first foldable device in late April, although interested buyers might have a hard time finding the $2,000 smartphone. That’s what you’ll have to spend to get a foldable phone from Samsung this year, as foldable devices will be anything but cheap in the first few years.
Samsung has ordered components from its partners to manufacture the phone, ETNews reports, with the device expected to go into production in late March or early April.
That’s a stark departure from Samsung’s typical way of doing things when it comes to its standard flagship phones, which usually enter production a few months before launch. But Samsung is looking to test the market with the first Galaxy Fold device, which explains the limited production run.
Samsung doesn’t plan to make more than 100,000 Galaxy Fold units per month, the report reveals, but yield issues may not even allow Samsung to reach that monthly goal.
The report notes that making the display will be especially tricky. That’s why the Galaxy Fold’s 7.3-inch display went into production late last year, because of the various manufacturing difficulties involved in mass-producing it. The screen isn’t made of glass. Instead, it’s a transparent polyimide (PI) material that is then glued to various display layers via a special adhesive, according to the report.
Because of Samsung’s limited production plans, buyers might have a hard time finding the Galaxy Fold in conventional electronics and carrier stores that would otherwise stock Samsung’s latest smartphones. Instead, they might be better off dealing directly with Samsung when the Galaxy Fold preorders kick off.