Following reports of malfunctioning test units, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. said today that it won’t launch its Galaxy Fold handset on Friday as originally planned.

The news is hardly unexpected. A couple hours before the official announcement, the Wall Street Journal broke the news that Samsung is postponing the release of the Galaxy Fold in the U.S. until at least next month. The company said it will announce the new availability date “in the coming weeks,” a fairly wide time frame which leaves open the possibility of a significant launch delay.

Samsung appears to have its work cut out for it with the Galaxy Fold. Over the past few weeks, several journalists who received early units for testing reported that the primary folding display failed after they peeled off a protective cover. Samsung informed reviewers that the cover shouldn’t be removed, but the fact that some still took it off clearly shows the company needs to provide clearer guidance for users.

That seems to be a part of the motivation behind the launch delay. The company said in its statement that it will “enhance the guidance on care and use of the display including the protective layer so that our customers get the most out of their Galaxy Fold.”

Another, potentially more serious issue is that a few of the review units stopped working even though the protective cover wasn’t removed. According to Samsung, one of the malfunctioning devices was damaged by debris that somehow found their way inside the handset. Other units failed because of force applied at certain angles to the folding hinge that runs along the middle of the primary display.

“As long as the final shipping units don’t have any issues or Samsung enables a very aggressive ‘no questions asked’ replacement program, I don’t see any issues with stunting foldable smartphone category growth,” said Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. “Smartphone sales numbers are declining and the industry needs a winner with the category.”

Samsung has already shown that it can bounce back from product design complications. In 2016, the company recalled the Galaxy Note 7 after a battery fault caused some users’ devices to overheat and explode. Since the problem with the Galaxy Fold’s display was caught before any devices were sent out to buyers, Samsung should have an easier time putting its foldable phone plans back on track.

Photo: Samsung