Samsung has said its first foldable phone is ready to go on sale from September after being delayed earlier this year when defects were reported.

The South Korean electronics giant said it had made improvements to the Galaxy Fold and was doing final tests on the handset – which has a price tag of £1,800.

A release had been planned for April but was shelved after journalists experienced breakages within a few days, while there were also problems with the display.

Some of the reviewers branded it unusable.

The phone is designed so it is a similar size to a normal phone when closed, but is also capable of opening to reveal a tablet-style screen.

Its delayed launch is likely to have cost sales that could have bumped up Samsung’s revenues during a slow summer season.

Samsung said it had “taken the time to fully evaluate the product design, make necessary improvements and run rigorous tests to validate the changes we made”.

These included modifications to the top protective layer of the display, “making it apparent that it is an integral part of the display structure and not meant to be removed”.

There have also been changes to strengthen the hinge and reinforce the protection of the display.

The Fold will go on sale in in selected markets from September.

Samsung has been competing with Huawei to be the first major manufacturer to release a foldable smartphone.

Huawei’s Mate X was unveiled days after Samsung’s Fold in February, but was also delayed after the Chinese firm said it wanted to be more “cautious” following its rival’s problems.

Samsung previously said it planned to make at least a million Fold handsets in the first year, out of the 300 million it produces annually on average.

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