When you are as large of a company as Samsung, you would think they have encountered every problem possible – however, even Samsung has never experienced the likes of their Galaxy Note 7 problem. The current financial backlash, investor’s worries, the public’s mistrust, and future sales are all at stake. Samsung Electronics has withdrawn to determine who or what is responsible for this disaster and have suddenly tightened control over its employees and supply partners about possible leaks of confidential business for fear of it causing “irreversible ramifications” that can lead to “broken partnerships and loss of trust.”
Samsung now must think about the future as they have a Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Edge to think about this February. This is Samsung’s biggest launch of the year, and it is highly unlikely that the Note 7 problems will be forgotten when the Galaxy S8 is launched. Samsung itself normally leaks out information before the actual launch…so much so that practically all of the specs are known by the time of the real launch of the device. Samsung, like most Korean companies, like to micromanage and one supplier said, “Samsung has notified its suppliers not to mention a single word on the Galaxy S8.” Samsung apparently wants a “wow” type factor when the Galaxy S8 series is launched, although it is hard to imagine many changes. Samsung may be afraid to do a total redesign for fear of another Note 7 tragedy.
This is one issue that Samsung and Apple agree on – those that want to be suppliers of either company will need to be silent on anything regarding devices. They are known to have penalties written into contracts if there are violations of these non-disclosure agreements. With Samsung’s buying power, nobody wants to take a chance on losing their business. With the problems Samsung had with their Note 7, it is more important than ever to make a fresh start in the new year with their Galaxy S8 series. Samsung definitely needs a strong start of the device that yields them the most smartphone profit each year. Even though there have been no issues with the Galaxy S series, the stigma of the Note 7 will linger for a while. It was a huge step for Samsung to stop selling the Note 7 altogether and now there is talk of dropping the ‘Note’ moniker and possibly the entire Note series. Yes, the Galaxy S8 is a crucial device to Samsung, and they need to ‘wow’ the customers.