The Galaxy Note 7 launch is truly a story for the ages. It’s hard to think of another example of a high-profile Android flagship which made so many headlines for all the wrong reasons. After Samsung was forced to issue an unprecedented second recall and discontinue the device for good, many industry experts started speculating about long-term consequences which the South Korean tech giant could suffer due to this entire ordeal. Over the last few months, numerous surveys making grave implications for the Samsung Galaxy brand started emerging online. However, the latest one conducted by ReportLinker isn’t nearly as pessimistic in its findings.
More specifically, the industry analysis company decided to organize a study in the United States which would answer two questions. One, how does the average consumer perceive the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, and two, how are other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) affected by the turmoil surrounding Samsung’s latest phablet? Before going into specifics, let’s highlight key findings made by ReportLinker. First and foremost, the average US consumer isn’t concerned about the safety of their smartphone. Even in the midst of the Galaxy Note 7 crisis, 84% of interviewees revealed that they aren’t afraid their device will catch fire or explode. Secondly, the Samsung Galaxy brand didn’t take a huge hit as ReportLinker found that 86% of Samsung’s existing customers would still consider buying their next phone from the South Korean tech giant. Last but not least, despite several previous studies indicating that the Google Pixel will be the biggest winner of the Galaxy Note 7 cancellation, ReportLinker’s findings suggest that the iPhone 7 will see the highest rise in sales following this ordeal.
If you want to know more, check out the detailed infographics representing this study in the gallery below. As for the findings themselves, they mostly make sense. We’ve already heard reports of the Samsung Galaxy brand still going strong in South Korea, so it’s not surprising that most US customers continue to be loyal to the company. Sure, the US may not be Samsung’s home country, but the conglomerate has been operating in North America for decades and has seemingly earned enough goodwill to get away with a one-time fiasco such as the Galaxy Note 7 one. It’s also not puzzling to see that most people aren’t particularly concerned for the safety of their smartphones given months of extensive media coverage on the matter. This comprehensive reporting presumably ensured that even the average consumer is somewhat informed on the subject, i.e. understands that only a single model from Samsung’s smartphone lineup potentially poses a fire hazard, or at the very least, that not all Android smartphones are prone to exploding.
