This past fall, Samsung was forced to dig itself out of one of the biggest tech controversies in history. In what was nothing short of a nightmare scenario, scores of Galaxy Note 7 devices began exploding all across the globe, a problem that was eventually traced back to design and manufacturing issues involving the Note 7’s battery. Ultimately, Samsung was forced to cease production altogether and issue a worldwide recall, a turn of events believed to have cost Samsung billions.
Remarkably, Samsung was able to withstand the PR crisis that was the Galaxy Note 7 and survive intact. Not only that, but Samsung’s mobile business has since flourished on the back of impressively strong sales of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. Apparently in the fast-moving world of tech, consumers are just as liable to forget about a company’s mistakes as they are to forget about a company’s successes.
That said, Samsung is now embarking on a curious strategy to help remind people of the Note 7’s existence. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Samsung is bringing the Note 7 back to life in the form of a refurbished “Fandom Edition” model. That’s right, the Galaxy Note 7 FE is not an SNL punchline, but rather a legit product that will hit store shelves on July 7. Now, to be fair, the Galaxy Note 7 FE will have different (read: safer) components than the original Note 7.
The Note 7 FE will make its debut in South Korea and may eventually wind up on store shelves in other countries later on down the road. As to why Samsung would release a product that evokes memories of phones exploding, well, that’s a question for the ages.
