A Chinese customer holds his thumb up after buying Galaxy Fold foldable smartphone at a Samsung store in Shanghai on November 8. [Yonhap Photo]
Samsung said in its Chinese micro-blog Friday that Galaxy Fold smartphones, priced at 15,999 yuan ($2,292), were sold out in both online and offline stores at 10:05 a.m. (0205 GMT) Friday, just five minutes after they hit the shelves.
While Galaxy Fold models are based on 5G, the Chinese model uses 4G mobile communication networks and targets consumers who want premium smartphones with larger displays. There are small tablets with smartphone features such as making phone calls and transmitting text messages, but they are still bulky and do not fit into a pocket.
Galaxy Fold houses a 4.6-inch exterior cover display and a 7.3-inch main display. The phone can be folded into the size that fits in a hand and becomes a tablet PC when it's folded out to its full size. Users can easily continue what they were doing by switching displays from the smaller one into the larger one.
Samsung originally planned to globally release Galaxy Fold in April but the release was postponed due to technical malfunctions found in the display and hinge. China is the 24th country to sell the foldable smartphone.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
