Last year saw the start of a trend where high-profile releases from industry leader Samsung were concerned, as the South Korean firm launched the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 earlier than usual in August, instead of the usual September IFA launch of the Galaxy Note line. Samsung followed suit for 2016, and launched the Galaxy Note 7 back in August, well before IFA 2016, and also got the device on sale before the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. For Samsung, this should have been a high point in their year, but we all know it didn’t quite turn out like that for the South Korean firm. Samsung is, however, coming close to putting the whole situation to bed, as devices will go back on sale in their home territory this Saturday, October 1st, and the rest of the world later that same month.
As Reuters is reporting, Samsung recently came forward with a statement letting users know that there were 1 Million Galaxy Note 7 smartphones all over the world that are deemed to be perfectly safe, and are not prone to overheating or exploding due to a battery issue. In fact, the Chinese arm of Samsung Electronics went on to reassure their regional customers and said that “the brand new Galaxy Note 7 products that have been swapped in overseas markets are using identical batteries to those that were supplied and used for the Chinese version”. This would certainly verify reports that devices marked as being “Made in China” were indeed safe all along, as batteries made in South Korea by Samsung SDI were not allowed to be used in the production of any smartphones in China.
Either way, this new figure is certainly a sign of progress for Samsung, and many will no doubt have expected this whole saga to go on for quite some time longer than this, but Samsung has certainly worked hard to turn things around quickly. With the Galaxy Note 7 going on sale in October throughout much of the world, this whole saga could well and truly be behind us before the end of the year. Now, the only question is, can the Galaxy Note 7 still compete against the iPhone 7 once Samsung have finished with this unprecedented recall.