It’s still unclear when the device will be ready.
In another blow to Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, Best Buy announced that it’s canceling all current Galaxy Fold pre-orders. That’s not entirely surprising given all of the drama around the Fold and the lack of concrete details from Samsung. But Best Buy could be the first of several retailers to make the call. Samsung itself is canceling pre-order for people who don’t confirm that they still want one by May 31st.
“We put our customers first and want to ensure they are taken care of in the best possible manner,” Best Buy said in a statement explaining its decision. The company softened the blow by praising the Fold. It called it “one of the most curious and highly anticipated devices of 2019” and said hurdles and unforeseen hiccups are not uncommon with breakthrough designs and technology.
This is just the latest in Samsung’s Galaxy Fold saga. The company delayed the phone’s launch a month ago, after several review units broke. But it still hasn’t provided an updated US release date, and it postponed launch events in China. As Engadget reported previously, the FTC’s distance selling regulations require a company to ship its devices within the time it stated, or if it didn’t state a time, within 30 days. If it cannot meet those stipulations, it needs a customer’s consent to delay or cancel pre-orders. For Samsung, that means it would need to ship or gain consent to the delay by May 31st. With that date quickly approaching, the Fold remains in limbo.
