14 DAY TRIAL // Last year, Samsung was faced with one of the biggest recalls in the tech market, when it had to collect millions of sold Galaxy Note 7 units and discontinue the phone model. Reports from South Korea indicate that Samsung is ready to refurbish and start selling Note 7 units in certain countries.
The Korea Economic Daily reports that Samsung intends to sell refurbished Galaxy Note 7 smartphones starting this June. The smartphones would have smaller batteries, 3,000mAh or 3,200mAh compared to the 3,500mAh batteries inside the initial Note 7.
Samsung will also remake the phone’s case, while the rest of its internals are expected to stay the same. After months of investigation, Samsung and independent labs concluded that the batteries inside Note 7 units were to blame for the phone catching fire.
Company engineers said that other components didn’t play a part in making the phone overheat and burst into flames. This would mean that new batteries should render refurbished units safe and the phones will surely be subjected to numerous tests before shipment.
India and Vietnam would be the first to receive refurbished Note 7 units
Samsung reportedly intends to sell Galaxy Note 7 units in India and Vietnam, while other countries might receive refurbished phones soon. It remains to be seen if customers would trust the safety of such a phone, even if it’s refurbished. With this move, Samsung intends to minimize some of the losses generated by the phone’s recall and discontinuation.
In addition, Samsung would partially solve an environmental issue that results from safely getting rid of millions of phones. The company would thus avoid paying a fine for environmental damages, in case the remaining devices are not disposed of properly.
Samsung earlier stated that 98% of all 3.06 million Galaxy Note 7 units were recalled, while 200,000 units were used during the investigation. This would mean that Samsung could potentially refurbish about 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 units.
Considering that the Note 7 will be refurbished and sold in emerging markets, it will surely have a lower price than the $850 users had to pay upon launch.