It has been two days since Samsung Electronics officially announced that it is permanently halting the production and sales of its Samsung Galaxy Note 7 flagship phablets. This came after multiple reports of replacement Galaxy Note 7 units catching on fire throughout last week, started to be reported from all over the world. With that, the South Korean company has requested all Galaxy Note 7 owners to head to their respective points of purchase, to receive a full refund, or exchange it for a different smartphone. It has now been revealed that the mobile carriers in South Korea are hoping that the Galaxy Note 7 recall and exchange program will be wrapped up by the end of the year.
In South Korea, Galaxy Note 7 owners must visit the store they originally purchased the device from to get a refund or an exchange. If you purchased a Galaxy Note 7 which originally came with a free Samsung Gear VR or a Samsung Gear Fit 2, Samsung is allowing you to keep these devices without additional costs, and you will be able to use them with other compatible smartphones. This applies to customers in other regions too. Consumers will also be allowed to exchange the Galaxy Note 7 for a different smartphone from any manufacturer. If a customer decides to exchange the Galaxy Note 7 for a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, which costs less than a Galaxy Note 7, the customer will be reimbursed for the remaining value with a mobile gift card worth 30,000 won ($26.60).
On top of that, TrendForce, a market research company, believes that Samsung’s decision to bury the Galaxy Note 7 will greatly affect the smartphone market and noticeable changes in shipments of other major smartphone brands such as Huawei and Lenovo, are expected to be seen. The price of smartphone components will not be seeing a downtrend either, but an uptrend should be expected. TrendForce also says that in order for Samsung to stay profitable this year, it is expected that the company will be increasing the prices of its memory and panel components. Samsung has been dominant in the semiconductor business for the past few years and it will be interesting to see what’s coming.