It had to happen. Samsung had to kill off its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone just two months after it went on sale with much fanfare.
Phones catching on fire inexplicably. Airlines telling passengers to power down their Samsung Notes before boarding and some even searching checked luggage for devices that might still be on. Unbelievable. This device was doomed.
Samsung’s decision this week was the only responsible thing to do. It’s lucky no one has been seriously injured.
Now the world’s largest phone-maker has to claw its way back to credibility and consumer trust.
Samsung needs to move quickly to find the Note 7’s real problem, report what it finds and invite outside scrutiny. The company should use the moment to embrace transparency. Someone needs to answer the question: How did the Galaxy Note 7 get to market anyway?
The company’s leader, Oh-Hyun Kwon, needs to take control and become the public face of the company’s crisis, he said.
When it comes to the consumer electronics, heat has long been an issue. Exploding Dells. Hot power adapters. Cords that shock. Laptops that burn laps.
Even though consumers know electronics are becoming more complex – smaller, thinner, faster – they expect those products to be safe. As they should.
Since the late 2000s, Samsung has been in a knock-out war with Apple over the smartphone market. The companies have sued each other over patents. The US Supreme Court heard arguments this week over design patents related to a $400mn jury trial award that Samsung owes Apple in one of their legal disputes.
Samsung has captured more market share than Apple to become the world’s largest smartphone provider with its less expensive phones. It had hoped its higher-end Note 7 would replace the Note 5 and win over some Apple iPhone users.
And then this.
First there was the recall of 2.5mn devices after reports that the phones were overheating, smoking and even catching on fire.
Samsung said the problem was with the device’s battery. It switched battery suppliers, apologised and reissued updated Notes, assuring consumers that the new devices were safe.
Then, just weeks later, came a second round of incidents and the deja vu of Samsung telling customers to stop using their Note 7s. Finally, they halted all production before the company on Tuesday decided to permanently pull them off the shelves.
This just shows how quickly the crisis has mushroomed.
The South Korean electronics firm, with its reputation for doing everything from semiconductors to refrigerators to smartphones and tablets, can only take so many rounds of this before its global brand is destroyed.
Samsung needs to make sure the problem doesn’t cascade to its other product lines. Consumers won’t remember the details of the Note 7 and images of owners holding them burnt on metal trays.
But when they are about to buy a television or another smartphone, they will remember Samsung and think twice.