What started off as promising in early August for Samsung Electronics has turned into the single biggest public relations nightmare the company has had to address in a long time. Its now-discontinued phablet, the Galaxy Note 7, has been at the center of a seemingly never-ending saga that now threatens to jeopardize the company’s status as the world’s largest smartphone maker ahead of Apple Inc. The company, as has been reported widely in the mainstream media over the past couple of days, has permanently stopped sales and production of the ill-fated smartphone after the replacement units also started bursting into flames, following the initial recall that was announced last month after the first rumblings about the Galaxy Note 7 fires started popping up on social media and online message boards from around the world.
Unsure about the viability of the ‘Note’ brand in the future, many analysts and media commentators have been urging Samsung to bring the curtains down on what has, until now, been one of the most successful smartphone lines in the world. While Samsung is yet to make any announcement on this issue officially, rumors coming out of Russia earlier today are apparently claiming that the South Korean electronics giant is all set to do just that. With some recent polls showing that a majority of consumers are starting to associate negative connotations with the Note brand, it wouldn’t be a total surprise if the company indeed pulls the plug on the Note brand going forward. However, Samsung is yet to confirm the report officially, nor has it been corroborated by any credible source. That being the case, we’ll just have to take this rumor with a generous pinch of salt. For now, at least.
Samsung had originally launched the Galaxy Note 7 back in August to glowing reviews in the international media. Initial sales figures looked promising as well, but that was before things went sideways with reports of the device catching on fire starting to pour in from around the globe. After an internal investigation, the South Korean company issued a global recall of the Galaxy Note 7, blaming the batteries manufactured by Samsung SDI, for the fiasco. However, with several cases of the supposedly-fixed replacement units also reportedly bursting into flames over the past few days, Samsung had very few options but to discontinue the device that had initially promised to establish the company’s position as the preeminent smartphone manufacturer in the world.