The Note 7 announcement

The Note 7 announcement

The past few weeks Samsung decide to start sales the popular Samsung Galaxy Note 7.That's an Android phablet smartphone that was produced and marketed by Samsung Electronics. Unveiled on 2 August 2016,it was officially released on 19 August 2016 as a successor to the Galaxy Note 5. Although it is the sixth main device in the Galaxy Note series, Samsung branded its series number as "7" instead, so that consumers would not perceive it as being inferior to the flagship Samsung Galaxy S7.

The Galaxy Note 7 is an evolution of the Galaxy Note 5 that inherited hardware components and improvements from the Galaxy S7, including the restoration of expandable storage and IP68 water resistance, and new features such as a dual-sided curved display, improvements to the bundled stylus and new software features which utilize it, an iris recognition system, and a USB Type-C port.

Demand for the Galaxy Note 7 on-launch was high, breaking pre-order records in South Korea and causing international releases to be delayed in some markets due to supply shortages. However, on 2 September 2016, Samsung suspended sales of the Galaxy Note 7 and announced a voluntary recall (referred to as a "product exchange program"), after it was found that a manufacturing defect in the phones' batteries had caused some of them to generate excessive heat, resulting in fires and explosions. A formal U.S. recall was announced on 15 September 2016. Samsung exchanged the affected phones for a new revision, which utilized batteries sourced from a different supplier. However, in early-October 2016, reports emerged of incidents where these replacement phones also caught on fire.

On 10 October 2016, in response to the new incidents, Samsung announced that it would once again suspend sales of the Galaxy Note 7 and recall all devices worldwide. The next day, Samsung also announced that it would permanently discontinue the Galaxy Note 7 and cease its production. The recall had a major impact on Samsung's business in the third quarter of 2016, with the company projecting that its operating profits would be down by 33% in comparison to the previous quarter. Credit Suisse analysts estimated that Samsung would lose at least US$17 billion in revenue from the production and recall of the Galaxy Note 7.