And just like that, the floor collapses under the feet of Samsung, the worlds largest mobile phone manufacturer had to recall and stop sales of the newly launched Galaxy Note 7 in over 10 countries due to the battery being prone to catching fire. A company that prides itself in high quality level of manufacturing its products, now faces this mess. Battery catching fire while charging has been reported with many cases causing severe burns to users, in Malaysia there were few reports in the past with children being scalded.
Undoubtedly, this will profoundly effect the credibility of the device in other countries where no official recalls have been made, in Malaysia Samsung has yet to officially launch the device, but the fear will loom over consumers who decide to purchase. According to foreign news agency, the recall and slow down in sale will impact the revenue by billions, a drop Samsung is not going to be pleased with. Incidentally, Apple will be launching new iPhone’s next week and the novelty of being ahead with new product launch will be lost for the Note 7.
Even the mood at the Samsung booth at IFA was somber, the venue was one time a mainstay for the Note launch, now stripped of the flagship with only the smartwatches are unveiled in the German capital. Not only the Galaxy Note 7 will have serious issues on convincing customers in picking up the rectified units, but will also create a dent in their pursuit in maintaining dominance in the mobile phone market. Chinese brands have been continually eating into Samsung’s space, and the once big brother in Android is now having many neighbours who will be inching closer with this latest news.
Here’s the official statement by Samsung Malaysia
SAMSUNG MALAYSIA ELECTRONICS (SME) OFFICIAL STATEMENT – GALAXY NOTE7
Samsung is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take every incident report from our valued customers very seriously. In response to recently reported cases of the new Galaxy Note7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue.
To date (as of September 1) there have been 35 cases that have been reported globally and we are currently conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market. However, because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note7.
For customers who already have Galaxy Note7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks. Customers may contact Samsung Malaysia Careline at 1-800-88-7799 for further enquiries of their current Galaxy Note7 device before replacement takes place.
We acknowledge the inconvenience this may cause in the market but this is to ensure that Samsung continues to deliver the highest quality products to our customers. We will work to ensure the replacement experience is as convenient and efficient as possible
