When Samsung was on the verge of breaking the record, the Galaxy Fold developed fault resulting in the call back of the devices and then Royole FlexiPai was launched. Although not the first, it’s at least the first from a big company…sounds complimentary enough?
South Korea was the first country to get the Galaxy Fold officially and a very limited version had been globally announced and due tomorrow, 18th of September. Meanwhile, we got this news about how resellers in Hong Kong are selling the device in a so-called “Grey Market” at an “Astronomical price”…Maybe I need to explain more on that below. Meanwhile, enjoy the flipping of the Galaxy Folds.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold is priced at $2000 in South Korea which is the only market it’s been sold officially throughout the world. But then there are resellers in Hong King who were able to somehow find a way to pick up some of the devices and resell them in the Chinese territory.
Given how only 1000-2000 units were reportedly shipped in this first batch, getting a Samsung Galaxy Fold internationally through conventional channels, especially in Hong Kong, is next to impossible. That’s why Hong Kong resellers are asking nearly HK$38,000 (~ $4,856) for the Galaxy Fold in the grey market. That’s 2.5 times the original price tag of the device!
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You might wonder why people aren’t just waiting to get this device tomorrow and why would anyone even purchase the device at such unnecessarily expensive point. What I feel probably led to this is the uniqueness of the smartphone. Being the first commercial flagship folding phone gives it some respect among gadget lovers.
There is currently no competitor with Samsung in the folding smartphone market as of now and in fact the Royole FlexiPai isn’t a Phenomenon. We thought Huawei would try it but it seems the Mate X isn’t coming any time soon.
So you can see why people seems to be rushing the device not minding the price and eve if anyone ordered, they probably won’t get it soon because there isn’t yet an official global release date. So the resellers in the grey market are the quickest way to get hold of the device in the region.
