Samsung Galaxy Fold is BACK... and is already 'in high demand'

After a months of the kind of will-they won't-they we haven't experienced since the romantic turmoil of Ross and Rachel in '90s sitcom Friends, Samsung has finally revealed that it will return its Samsung Galaxy Fold to shelves worldwide.

The first-generation foldable flagship was originally scheduled to launch in the United States on April 26 and in the UK on May 3, but was pulled days before its US release due to issues with the durability of the Infinity-Flex screen. A handful of US technology journalists saw the £1,800 handset ($1,980, €2,000) stop working after a few days using the device.

But Samsung has relaunched the pre-registration webpages on both its UK and US websites. These allow customers to show an interest in the upcoming handset without having to cough-up any cash, like an official pre-order. Those who register will be first to find out the new details about the launch this month.

When trying to register on the US webpage, Samsung now deploys a pop-up that states: "Galaxy Fold is in high demand. Please share your information to receive access to limited supplies when available," suggesting the issues suffered by the handset hasn't put anyone off. 

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Samsung has made a number of significant changes to the design, including sealing a number of the gaps in the frame highlighted by the iFixit teardown team, which caused the popular repair site to brand the handset as "alarmingly fragile".

In a press conference earlier this summer, Samsung Display Vice President Kim Seong-cheol said the South Korean company had ironed-out "most" of the issues that had plagued the folding OLED. Admittedly, the careful deployment of the word "most" triggered a few alarm bells with consumers. After all, Samsung is the company that rolled-out a "fixed" version of its disastrous Galaxy Note 7 just a few weeks after the global recall that suffered the same battery over-heating issued that plagued its predecessor and had to be subsequently recalled all over again.

Despite the question marks over the pliable smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Fold is still the best option for those looking to buy a foldable from one of the biggest Android manufacturers. That's because its main competitor – the Huawei Mate X – is still missing in action. Originally scheduled to debut this month, the Mate X will now launch sometime in November, the company has confirmed. 

The Shenzhen-based brand will hold a press conference on September 19, 2019 for its Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro announcement, so it seems likely we'll get some more information on the fate of the handset then – as well as confirmation whether it will even be able to run Android 10 or not.

"We don’t want to launch a product to destroy our reputation," a Huawei spokesperson told CNBC in the interview – a not-so-subtle jibe at rival Samsung.

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