Samsung canceled its launch of the Galaxy Fold smartphone in China this week after a wave of reviewers in the U.S. reported their phone screens broke after a few days of use.
CNBC reports Samsung has canceled its April 24 launch event in China, but the device maker did not comment as to why or when it would be rescheduled. Last week, tech gadget reviewers at media outlets in the U.S. ranging from CNBC to The Verge took to Twitter to post photos of their broken Galaxy Fold phone screens, leading to a PR nightmare for Samsung and the new hashtag “#FoldGate.”
RELATED: Reviewers report Samsung’s Galaxy Fold phones are already breaking
Samsung released a statement saying it would inspect the defective phones to determine the problems. It’s unclear if the phone screens suffer from design flaws or manufacturing flaws. Samsung released a video last month explaining that it subjected its phones to extensive durability tests and that the Galaxy Fold can be folded up to 200,000 times—the equivalent of someone folding the phone 100 times a day for five consecutive years.
But in the U.S., reviewers reported issues with the screen almost immediately. A few accidentally removed a protective film from the screen, which Samsung later clarified should not be removed. Others had screens broken from other unknown causes.
The Galaxy Fold is expected to go on sale in the U.S. later this week. It’s unclear if Samsung will push back launches of the phone in markets beyond China.