KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 — The refreshed/fixed Samsung Galaxy Fold was only recently announced, and it seems that fans aren’t letting fears of the durability of Samsung’s innovative "smartphone” hold them back.

All of the phones reportedly sold out within minutes in Korea, and there are apparently some fans are actually paying up to US$4,000 (about RM16,724) for units.

The Galaxy Fold, with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.0 storage, is priced at US$1,980 (about RM8,278) for the base model in the US, but the increased prices that some customers are paying are for grey imports of the foldable smartphone. Initially, you could only get an official set from Korea, although the pre-order for the phones sold out quick — expect a second round of pre-orders in Korea soon, however.

But the doubled-price is being paid for grey import sets in Hong Kong, with the scarcity of the device being the main reason for the huge price hike. According to this report, there have only been 1,000-2,000 sets shipped in South Korea, which certainly explains things.

But things should get better soon. The Galaxy Fold was launched in select European markets on September the 18th. We’re also expecting the Fold to be available in Malaysia sometime soon. Local pricing isn’t available yet, however.

Some of the notable changes for the new Fold include a new protective layer which is extended beyond the bezel, along with further reinforcements to prevent tiny particles from entering the hinge mechanism. How durable is the Galaxy Fold now? Only time will tell. — SoyaCincau