By: Nick Gambino
After a number of reports of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 bursting into flames, followed by a massive recall, followed by replacement phones also bursting into flames, followed by a global shaking of our heads, Samsung has finally halted production and sales of their flagship phone.
“For the benefit of consumers’ safety, we stopped sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7 and have consequently decided to stop production,” a spokeswoman for Samsung said.
The issue was originally traced to faulty batteries so the tech giant switched up battery suppliers hoping that would solve the problem. Nope. Somehow they were still exploding, this time there was even a report of one catching fire aboard a plane.
This begs the question: What the hell went wrong? It seems for now that will continue to be the question as Samsung isn’t exactly forthcoming with an explanation of what’s starting the fire. (Cue Billy Joel. We didn’t start the fire…)
The smartphone fetched for a cool $850 in the U.S. so this is no small loss. Estimates of loss reach as high as $9.5 billion in sales and $5.1 billion in profit.
While these are certainly astronomical figures and a huge dent in revenue, it’s important to consider this in the context of Samsung as a whole. The Galaxy Note 7 is one of numerous products they offer. They’ve got everything from tablets to TVs to the Samsung Gear VR as well as their other smartphone, the S7 Edge.
The company’s annual sales hit somewhere around $179 billion. Soooo I think they’ll survive. It’s their name that may need some work. As of now when you hear “Samsung” you think of the Note 7 catching on fire. They’ll have some PR work to do in order to convince us that exploding devices was a problem exclusive to the Note 7.
Per one report there are currently 1 millions Note 7s still on in the U.S.
If you own a Galaxy Note 7 please turn it off and bring it in for a replacement phone. Samsung is offering you a $100 rebate if you choose to get another Samsung smartphone. If you want to leave Samsung altogether they will give you $25. I know it’s not a lot but for safety’s sake get rid of the phone.
If not for your sake, then for mine. I don’t want to sit next to you on a plane. Nothing personal.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nick Gambino is a regular script writer and tech beat reporter for NewsWatch. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and daughter.
