Samsung announces Galaxy Fold phone with apps from Facebook, Google

By Stephen Nellis

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Wednesday said it will release a pricey folding smart phone in April, with specially adapted applications from Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc designed for the new device.

The Galaxy Fold will cost $1,980 and go on sale on April 26, Samsung officials said at an event in San Francisco. The device will have a 4.6-inch display while folded and a 7.3-inch display when unfolded. Samsung said it worked with Facebook, Google and Microsoft Corp to create special versions of their popular apps to fit the new display.

The device "breaks new ground because it answers sceptics who said that everything that could be done has been done," DJ Koh, chief executive of Samsung Electronics, said at the event. "We are here to prove them wrong."

The device could help Samsung, the world's largest mobile phone maker, compete against rivals such as Apple Inc and China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, both of which sell premium smart phones. While Huawei gained market share last year, the entire industry saw overall unit sales fall as the Chinese economy struggled toward the end of the year.

Samsung said it had developed new manufacturing processes for the phone's hinge and flexible display to tolerate being open and closed hundreds of thousands of times. Koh said the aim of the launch was to "to recharge growth for our industry."

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)