Samsung’s recall and subsequent discontinuation of its Galaxy Note 7 will likely have far-reaching implications for the company’s vaunted mobile division. From a financial perspective, the Note 7 mess will likely cost the company as much as $5 billion. Even more worrisome is that the harm done to Samsung’s reputation may be hard to erase for the foreseeable future.
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With Samsung still reeling from the PR disaster that was the Galaxy Note 7, we’re starting to see rumblings that Samsung may abandon the Note brand altogether. Without question, the way people view the Note brand has changed drastically over the past few weeks, with many people now associating the brand with spontaneous fires and explosions.
According to a recent report from The Korea Herald, Samsung is now contemplating a fundamental shift to a smartphone strategy that has served the company well for years. Specifically, Samsung, going forward, may focus on releasing just one premium smartphone model per year as part of a concerted effort to focus on quality. The end result would be Samsung releasing a Galaxy S8 this year and forgoing the release of the company’s next-gen Galaxy Note 8.
As for Samsung doubling down on quality, it’s worth noting that Samsung rushed the Note 7 to market in a foolhardy effort to trounce what was believed to be a boring iPhone 7 upgrade. In their haste, however, Samsung released a faulty and dangerous device to the market. All the more worrisome is that Samsung still isn’t quite sure why its initially well-reviewed phablet is prone to exploding.
Samsung hasn’t yet commented publicly on what it plans to do with its Galaxy Note line but you can bet that it’s thinking long and hard about investing engineering resources towards a product line that may never again resonate with consumers.
