Samsung had to recall some 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 units after several handsets caught fire due to malfunctioning batteries. The company stopped sales in most markets except for China, and plans to replace every Galaxy Note 7, or refund you the money. This is where things get interesting, at least for those people who planned on buying the handset but didn’t do it on account of its prohibitive price.
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You see, once Samsung fixes its mess, it’ll still have 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 units that are almost functional — they only need battery replacements. It’s likely that Samsung won’t want to ditch that stock, and Business Korea speculates that Samsung is likely to sell them as refurbished devices.
Samsung wants to sell used handsets in the US, so it could definitely try to recoup some of its losses by including the recalled Galaxy Note 7 units in its program.
Samsung is yet to announce such a program, so don’t get too excited just yet. But what else will it do with the unexpected Galaxy Note 7 pileup?
The news site says that out of the 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 units that are being recalled, some 1.4 million to 1.5 million have been shipped to consumers. These will probably be the cheapest refurbished Galaxy Note 7 versions that Samsung could sell.
That leaves up to 1.1 million units that have never been opened but need battery replacements. These devices could also be sold in Samsung’s refurbished smartphones store. They should be slightly more expensive than customer-used devices, but cheaper than the full $850 price you’d be paying on a brand new Galaxy Note 7.
Again, nothing is concrete at this point, and we’re only speculating here. We’ll have to wait a few more weeks for the faulty Galaxy Note 7 units to be replaced.
Either way, the ball is in your court on this one, Samsung.
