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Electronics giant kills off troubled flagship after bungled recall failed to address battery problem.
Samsung on Tuesday confirmed it is permanently discontinuing production of the Galaxy Note 7, after its bungled recall programme failed to eradicate a persistent battery problem that caused its flagship smartphone to catch fire.
The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which cited a regulatory filing from Samsung in which it said it would end production and sales of the troubled device.
"We can confirm the report that Samsung has permanently discontinued the production of [the] Galaxy Note 7," said a U.K.-based spokeswoman for the company, in an email to Total Telecom.
The revelation comes just hours after Samsung again halted global sales and exchanges of the handset, and requested that its retail and carrier partners do likewise. It also advised customers who own either an original Galaxy Note 7, or a replacement version, to power down their device.
It is an ignominious end for Samsung’s flagship smartphone.
Unveiled in early August, the Galaxy Note 7 received critical acclaim for its high-end features, which included a big, high dynamic range (HDR) screen, an iris scanner, and a revamped S Pen stylus. It also carried a hefty $850 price tag.
The Galaxy Note 7 hit the shelves in the U.S. on 19 August, but by 2 September it was back off them again, after a faulty battery was found to be the root cause of at least 35 reported cases of the device catching fire.
A global recall was initiated; an embarrassing but necessary step in order to prevent further harm to customers and to mitigate the damage to Samsung’s reputation.
The exchange programme proceeded quickly, but by early October, reports began to emerge of newly-replaced Galaxy Note 7s also catching fire.
With mounting evidence that all was not well with Samsung’s recall programme, the company on Monday revealed it was "adjusting" its production schedule to ensure that the handset’s issues had been resolved.
Then, earlier on Tuesday, Samsung once again pulled the Galaxy Note 7 from sale.
The original recall alone was expected to cost Samsung upwards of $1 billion. Radio Free Mobile founder Richard Windsor estimated in a research note on Tuesday that a second global recall could more than double that figure.
However, killing off its flagship smartphone altogether, in the run-up to Christmas, and not long after the iPhone 7 launch, will likely inflict untold damage to Samsung’s brand, reputation, and market share; damage that will only fully come to light when Samsung’s third-and-fourth quarter financial reports are published.
The company is doubtless already carrying out an in-depth investigation to find out exactly what went wrong, and it is reasonable to expect that some high-profile executives may fall on their swords.
What is hardest to predict though, is where Samsung goes from here. Will Samsung rush an updated version into production in a bid to clean up the fallout? Or will this sorry saga spell the end for the Note range altogether?
