Samsung puts the Galaxy Fold launch on hold for Australia, delaying price, release date details

Tech fans will have to wait well after the rest of the world to try the first folding smartphone as Samsung delays the Galaxy Fold’s Australian launch, with the device expected to cost a small fortune.

Exclusive: Australians won’t be able to try the world’s first “folding” smartphone until well after the rest of the world as tech giant Samsung has pushed local buyers to the back of the queue.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold, which analysts are tipping to cost as much as $4000 at launch, will be released in the United States next week, followed by Europe and the UK.

But News Corp has learned Australians won’t even find out when the device will arrive Down Under or how much it will cost until the end of the month in a move analysts say is likely to devastate early adopters hanging out for the “revolutionary” phone.

Samsung has held preview events for its Galaxy Fold device in the US and UK before its launch. Picture: AP

The Galaxy Fold, named for its ability to fold open like a book and reveal a 7.3-inch screen, will be the first of two handsets with flexible screens to arrive this year, and is on track to break all smartphone price records.

The cheapest Galaxy Fold will cost $2770 when it launches in the US on April 26, and $3294 when it arrives in Britain on May 3.

Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi said it was “quite likely” the folding phone would “breach the $3000 mark” at its Australian launch, with a top model potentially costing as much as $4000.

But he said “early adopters,” gadget fans looking for something new, and dedicated Samsung users would queue up to buy the device, and would likely cause sellouts.

“Samsung is the king of Android in Australia by a mile,” he said.

“We’re going to see a lot of interest in the Fold, and a lot of demand from premium customers who might have forgone the S10 after seeing the Fold announced. There is going to be some pent-up demand for the Fold when it arrives here.”

But the keen and cashed-up Australian audience will have to wait to hand over their money, as Samsung was not expected to reveal the Galaxy Fold’s Australian arrival date or price until the last week of April, after the phone had already launched in the United States.

A model holds a Samsung Galaxy Fold smartphone to her face, during a media preview event in London. Picture: AP

The move is a highly unusual one for Samsung, which hasn’t significantly delayed a product’s launch in Australia since it suffered product shortages of the Galaxy Note 4 in 2014.

Mr Fadaghi said the delay was hard to fathom as “there’s no reason why Australians would want the Fold less than other countries”.

Smartphone sales figures released this week by Kantar Worldpanel also revealed Samsung devices made up almost one in three phones sold in Australia during the first three months of year, and Google Android devices dominated the market, representing 63.5 per cent of all phones sold.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold could be an unknown quantity in terms of sales, however, as the device would feature two screens, six cameras, and that sizeable price.

Technalysis research chief analyst Bob O’Donnell said the Fold was “clearly not for everyone” but could be a preview of smartphones to come.

“This is the Porsche of smartphones and not everyone can or will want to pay that much for a phone,” Mr O’Donnell said.

“The Galaxy Fold completely transforms how we can and should think about smartphones.”

Samsung’s folding phone will be joined by a rival from Huawei, dubbed the Mate X, in the second half of the year.

Originally published as Samsung puts the Galaxy Fold launch on hold for Australia, delaying price, release date details