SAN FRANCISCO — Samsung is pushing back this week’s planned public launch of its highly anticipated, $2,000 folding phone after reports that reviewers’ phones were breaking.

The company had been planning to release the Galaxy Fold on Friday, but instead it will now run more tests and announce a new launch date in the “coming weeks.”

The delay is a setback for Samsung and for the smart phone market generally, which had been pinning some hopes on the folding phone to catalyze innovation in the industry. The Galaxy Fold, with its $1,980 price tag, was not intended to be a mass market hit, but many hoped it would hint at a new wave of smart phone advances — an area that has been lagging.

But device reviewers quickly found issue with the Galaxy Fold, which is about the size of an average smart phone when folded, and the size of a small tablet when its two sides are pulled apart.

Several journalists reported the inside screens flickering, freezing and finally dying on their test units within the first couple days.