Samsung completed its Galaxy Note 7 investigation and shared the results with the world on Monday. The company also unveiled a new 8-point quality assurance plan meant to prevent battery accidents from occurring on future Galaxy phones — and one of the phones that will benefit from the new safety policies is going to be the Galaxy Note 8. Yes, Samsung confirmed that it’s making “a better, safer and very innovative Note 8” just a few days ahead of its press conference on Monday.
Samsung mobile boss DJ Koh spoke to CNET on Thursday about the Galaxy Note 7 fires. But Koh also let it slip that the Galaxy Note 7 won’t be the last phablet in the Note series. “I will bring back a better, safer and very innovative Note 8,” Koh actually said, which a clear confirmation that a Galaxy Note 8 is indeed in the works.
Samsung may have elaborated on the “safer” part during its press event on Monday, but it’s unclear at this time what “better” and “very innovative” mean.
The Galaxy Note was the first big-screen smartphone that people flocked to, making Samsung the godfather of the phablet. The phone has plenty of fans, and Samsung says that Note fans are very devoted. In fact, 4% of the potentially faulty Galaxy Note 7 units that were sold are still in use out there — though most of them can’t even be used as phones anymore thanks to software limitations that have been put in place.
“We found through the investigative process, we knew there are lots and lots of loyal Note customers,” Koh said. Note fans are Samsung’s most loyal base of clients across all of its products, the company said.
According to Samsung’s Tim Baxter, president of the company’s US division, more than 10,000 Note customers signed up to stay connected to Samsung for more updates. On top of that, there’s a large base of Galaxy Note 4 and Note 5 users who want an upgrade. “They made it clear, they want a Note,” Baxter said.
The Galaxy Note 8 likely won’t launch until sometime this fall, but in the meantime, at least we all know for certain that the phone is coming.
