14 DAY TRIAL // On September 2, Samsung announced the recall of all Galaxy Note 7 smartphones sold worldwide, except for China. It seems that faulty Galaxy Note 7 units had batteries manufactured by Samsung SDI, while batteries for units sold in China were produced by local company ATL.
Recently, the Chinese state TV broadcaster slammed Samsung for the way it handled the Chinese market and said that the South Korean smartphone manufacturer was “arrogant” with consumers.
Samsung did apologize for failing to properly explain the reasons why China wasn’t included in the recall process. However, it seems that it was too little too late, since Samsung's overall sales in China have dropped massively.
Samsung sales at one retailer dropped 80% because of low consumer trust
Bloomberg reported that a retailer from Hong Kong even posted a 30% sales drop. It seems that even sales of the Galaxy S7 edge dropped, although the device was well received by critics. Moreover, another retailer reported a decline of up to 80%, as customers may have been put off by media reported incidents.
Consumers trust has definitely declined in the country, but the scale of the whole situation will be visible in Samsung’s earnings report set to arrive on Friday. Analysts have stated that Galaxy Note 7 shipments will drop from the initial projection of 13 million to just 8 million.
The recall will continue to impact Samsung sales in China, seeing how many other companies manage to provide the market with worthy competitor flagships. The recall of 2.5 million Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones might cost the company as much as $2 billion and it might affect the global perception of Samsung’s brand and quality.
The South Korean manufacturer will be working hard on improving its brand image all over the world and it seems that the company is preparing a new commercial, set to shoot in New York City this month, according to Parent Herald. Samsung is searching for Note 7 customers who would be willing to participate and get a minimum pay of $600 per day. The commercial will surely be part of Samsung’s new marketing campaign for the Note 7.