iFixit pulls Galaxy Fold teardown at Samsung's request

But nothing is actually erased on the internet.

Just two days after publishing a typically detailed teardown of the Galaxy Fold, iFixit has decided to remove the article from its website. We had wondered how iFixit had received its Galaxy Fold, considering just how few were out in the wild, and it turns out that it came from a "trusted partner" of iFixit originally. Samsung apparently requested, through that mutual partner, that iFixit pull its teardown from its website.

We were provided our Galaxy Fold unit by a trusted partner. Samsung has requested, through that partner, that iFixit remove its teardown. We are under no obligation to remove our analysis, legal or otherwise. But out of respect for this partner, whom we consider an ally in making devices more repairable, we are choosing to withdraw our story until we can purchase a Galaxy Fold at retail.

It isn't entirely surprising that Samsung would make such a request, and I'm sure this isn't the first time iFixit has faced such a request, but the fact that it complied in this case is a bit of a head scratcher. The teardown was on its website for over two days, with copious media coverage pointing anyone and everyone curious about the Fold's short-but-intense history to take a look. And as we all know, nothing is ever fully deleted from the internet: Archive.org obviously has a copy of the full teardown.

The iFixit teardown wasn't purely negative on the Fold, either. Although it did reveal some head-scratching design decisions that seem very easily linked to the well-reported display issues, it also showed there were lots of very well-thought-out components and engineering decisions made.