Samsung has put the Note 7, and also itself out of its misery by stopping production of the handset after repeated reports of it catching fire. Yes, this is all after a round of global recall. Even the supposedly “safe”, replacements seemed to have caught fire, after at least 5 cases of them catching fire were reported.
The announcement to permanently cease production was made on Tuesday. Samsung said, “Taking our customers safety as our highest priority, we have decided to halt sales and production of the Galaxy Note 7.”
Samsung itself has asked all carriers and retail partners to globally stop production of the handset. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission also advised that the devices be completely powered off immediately. All US carriers stopped selling the phone and instead, recommended customers to switch to a different device. Samsung said in a statement on Monday that the users of the Note 7 shut their device off immediately and take advantages of the “remedies available.” These remedies are refunds, or new devices entirely, be it manufactured by Samsung or some other company.
The Chairman of The US Consumer Product Safety Commission appreciated the move saying it was the “right move.” It’s fair to say we think the same too. Safety of the users is paramount.
This final recall ends a painful saga in Samsung’s illustrious history in the mobile phone market. A phone that was intended to boss it against all rivals, is now a quintessential tech joke. From Samsung’s perspective we can only imagine how embarrassing it must have been. 8% decline in shares and an estimated $17 Billion cost of recall are quite painful figures to read. It’s fair to say Samsung will fall behind the competition temporarily with its big hitter well and truly dead.
