Samsung Galaxy Fold Sold Out, Some People Paying $4,000 For One

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When marketing and crazy consumers collide

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Sure, Samsung may be artificially holding back on the initial number of manufactured units of the Galaxy Fold, but the fact that all phones sold out within minutes and there’s people who are paying more than $4,000 for one is just pure madness.

I’m a fan of foldable phones myself. I think they are cool and, once the kinks are all ironed out and they get thinner, they will be what everyone uses. And I’m sure that the Galaxy Fold will end being a success. But I would never pay $2,000, let alone more than $4,000 like people in Hong Kong are doing with imported units from South Korea.

South Korea is the only country where you can get a Fold now. The first round of $2,000 pre-orders sold out within minutes of launch. And, as SamMobile reports, the Seoul-based company had to change its original plans because of the higher-than-expected demand, increasing the number of units in a second pre-order batch that will be available September 18.

Granted, the first batch was only 4,000 units, 3,000 sold directly at Samsung stores and 1,000 units for the three major carriers. That’s not much, but consider this: First, the Galaxy Fold costs about $2,000 in South Korea. Secondly, the phone was universally slammed for its problematic design when it first came out.

In theory, the Fold's problems have been fixed but the jury is still out. 

According to Samsung, the company is expecting 1 million Folds to be sold in the entire planet when it launches internationally. Stay tuned for our updated Galaxy Fold review.

Jesus Diaz
Jesus Diaz

Jesus Diaz founded the new Sploid for Gawker Media after seven years working at Gizmodo, where he helmed the lost-in-a-bar iPhone 4 story and wrote old angry man rants, among other things. He's a creative director, screenwriter, and producer at The Magic Sauce, and currently writes for Fast Company and Tom's Guide.