Customers who returned their Note 7s, priced at about US$880 (RM3,706), were offered a coupon worth 30,000 won (RM111), while those who chose an exchange for another high-end Samsung phone were promised an additional 70,000 won (RM260) mobile credit. Samsung also recalled about 200,000 phones in China and about half a million phones in South Korea.
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The smartphone company, which gave iPhone maker Apple a run for its money, has been hit hard by the phenomenal collapse of its ambitious Note 7 device.
On top of the third-quarter loss, Samsung said the drop in sales arising from the decision to discontinue the Note 7 would continue to impact profit margins in October-March – including the crucial holiday buying season. Namely, retail chains in Taiwan are reporting that most Note 7 customers are opting to replace their devices with the Galaxy S7 Edge.
Samsung has expanded its recall of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in the United States to include all replacement devices offered after the originals were found prone to catch fire.
“Passengers are also asked not to stow them in any checked-in baggage. We are committed to doing everything we can to make this right”, Tim Baxter, president and COO of Samsung Electronics America, said in a statement. Samsung moved quickly to recall the first batch of Note 7 phones, only to encounter incidents in which the supposedly safer replacement phones began to catch fire as well. Users have a choice between getting a replacement phone or getting a full refund.
With the Galaxy Note7 being Samsungs flagship, what do you exchange it for? But if they choose to exchange the Note 7 for any Samsung smartphone, they will get a whopping $100 bill credit from select retailers and carriers. Most were sold in the US and South Korea. Adding this amount to the recall costs, Samsung appears to be looking at 4.1 trillion won to 4.6 trillion won carved from the operating profit of its smartphone business.
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Samsung’s second Galaxy Note 7 recall is now official, and the company is finally comfortable using the word “recall” to describe what’s currently happening with the phablet.
