Delayed Samsung Galaxy Fold to go on sale on September 6

Samsung has confirmed that its delayed Galaxy Fold will finally go on sale on Friday in South Korea, and other countries including the UK in the weeks that follow.

The Korean firm said it had improved the “design and construction” of the foldable device ahead of its launch.

Initially unveiled earlier this year and originally due to launch in May, Samsung was forced to delay the Fold after a number of early testers reported issues with the device’s folding screen, including several who mistakenly removed a protective film over the screen which caused it to stop working in some cases.

The £1,800 Galaxy Fold combines a single screen like that of a traditional smartphone, but can also be unfolded to reveal a larger, tablet-sized screen inside the device.

Samsung confirmed the Fold will be released in the UK on September 18.

Samsung also announced that anyone who buys a Fold will have access to “specialised customer care services”, including 24-hour support and access to one-on-one time with Samsung experts.

Samsung’s mobile communications president, DJ Koh, said: “The category-defining Galaxy Fold is a device that defies the barriers of traditional smartphone design. Now, we’re excited to release this pioneering mobile technology, and allow consumers to experience it for themselves.

“Consumers have responded positively to larger screens, and the Galaxy Fold’s revolutionary form factor offers a bigger, more immersive screen without sacrificing portability. This is what we call innovation of new mobile experience in action.”

The Fold is the first foldable smartphone to launch from a major smartphone manufacturer, with Chinese phone-maker Huawei’s own folding Mate X also delayed, having been first revealed just days after the Fold earlier this year.

Speaking at the firm’s media event in Berlin, ahead of the opening of Europe’s largest technology convention – IFA – in the city on Friday, Samsung’s Benjamin Braun said the Fold had come about because users were now craving bigger phones with bigger screens.

“The folding screen will be the start of a new exciting era for the industry,” he said, highlighting that Samsung was the first major manufacturer to launch such a device.

“Where we lead, others follow.

“If you want innovation in your life, Samsung is the brand,” he added.

Samsung also announced two new home appliance devices – a cordless vacuum cleaner called the PowerStick Jet, and a smart wardrobe called AirDresser, which uses a jet-air system to dry and freshen clothes.

The AirDresser also gently steams and deodorises clothes hung inside it, Samsung said, without placing items at risk from shrinkage or heat damage.