Samsung is one of the most prominent tech giants in the world but its mobile division has certainly seen better days. In recent weeks, Samsung Mobile was at the center of an unprecedented fiasco which the Galaxy Note 7 launch turned out to be. Delivering a faulty device is unfortunate but correctable. Delivering a faulty device two times in a row and being forced to issue two worldwide recalls is pretty catastrophic even when you’re managing a brand as big as Samsung Galaxy is. The situation is only made worse by the fact that Galaxy Note 7 wasn’t just defective – it was an actual fire hazard. There are currently close to 100 reported cases of the phone catching fire and exploding in the US alone and Samsung is losing huge amounts of money on recalling Galaxy Note 7. Of course, the Galaxy brand value is also expected to take a heavy hit due to this ordeal.
In addition to that, Samsung has faced harsh criticism due to the way in which it handled the initial recall of the device as the company was quick to claim that it has managed to eliminate a battery cell defect which caused Galaxy Note 7 to turn into a portable fire hazard. As replacement units of Samsung’s latest phablet demonstrated, that proved to be false. The South Korean tech giant was then much more secretive while handling the second Galaxy Note 7 recall which led to more criticism from industry experts and the general public.
All in all, someone at Samsung is going to have to take the blame for this fiasco. As South Korean media reports, that’s probably happening sooner rather than later. Namely, the company has just started its annual employee performance review and insiders are claiming that it may fire as much as one-fifth of its executive force. It’s not just executives at Samsung Mobile that are in danger of getting laid off, SamMobile is reporting that up to 200 management officials from all divisions are currently under heavy scrutiny. Whether such management changes are the best bet for the company or not is debatable but one thing is sure – Samsung simply cannot afford another Galaxy Note 7.