The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Is Dead: Samsung Stops Sales, Ends Production Of Controversial Smartphone
Hours after Samsung announced that it is ending the sales of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, reports now suggest that the company is ending the production and sales of the Galaxy Note 7. This means the company will discontinue the ill-fated product permanently.
While Samsung has yet to issue an official statement on the matter, several mainstream media outlets have more or less confirmed the development. A report by the New York Times says that the fate of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was confirmed by a person who was “familiar with the decision.” On Tuesday, Samsung also filed a statement with the country’s major stock exchange, where they confirmed the decision to stop producing and selling the phone. Hours before the news came out, Samsung also directed all its retail and carrier partners to halt sales of the phone. Several carriers had, however, already stopped selling the Galaxy Note 7 before Samsung sent out the notification.
AT&T has halted all Samsung Note 7 exchanges amid more reports of ‘safe’ models igniting https://t.co/phoYyMfcdS pic.twitter.com/6PebabLUVQ
— Recode (@Recode) October 9, 2016
In case you are still wondering what led to this scenario, here is a brief history of the Note 7 fiasco. The phone was first showcased by Samsung earlier this year, on August 2, and followed up with an official launch on August 19. The Note 7 was the successor to the Galaxy Note 5 that was launched last year. However, Samsung decided to skip the number six and jumped directly to the “7” moniker to make both its flagship lineups — the Galaxy S7 and the Note 7 — “on par.”
As expected of a flagship Samsung smartphone, the Galaxy Note 7 did manage to garner considerable interest as millions of people pre-ordered the device. However, a few days after the first of the Note 7 units reached consumers, there were an unusually high number of reports that seem to suggest that the Note 7 had a serious issue with its internal, non-removable battery. There were several reports of Note 7 handsets catching fire or exploding due to this battery issue. Within a few weeks, Samsung admitted that there were quality issues with batteries supplied by one of their vendors and issued a worldwide product recall. The new Note 7 devices were barred from being used on flights following a FAA directive, perhaps the first instance of an aviation authority banning the use of a specific smartphone model.
Samsung Note 7 nightmare puts firm's brand on trial https://t.co/bnTBspIvOR
— aoll (@sonuise) October 11, 2016
In response, Samsung started issuing replacement Note 7 devices to everyone who had bought the model with the potential battery flaw. However, a few days after the replacements went out, there were multiple reports of the new, supposedly trouble-free Note 7 units also facing the same issue. As reported in an earlier Inquisitr report, there were several such reports from the U.S.
One week after these reports, Samsung finally decided to pull the plug on the Galaxy Note 7. In South Korea, the company apologized to its users and business partners due to the fiasco and the massive dent in the company’s reputation. Samsung also started issuing refunds to Note 7 buyers while giving them an option to switch to other Samsung models.
At this time, the fate of the Note lineup remains unclear, and several people are wondering if Samsung would come up with a successor (Galaxy Note 8?) or completely drop the line-up due to the massive dent in reputation the brand suffered over the course of the past few months. The decision to stop selling the Note 7 is expected to end up in a major financial loss for Samsung, with some reports saying that the entire fiasco will cost Samsung over $17 billion.
Do you happen to be a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 owner who has been affected by this problem? If yes, please let us know your thoughts on this development in the comments section below.
[Featured Image by Lee Jin-man/AP Images]
