14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung has suspended sales of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in multiple countries and third-party retailers, and carriers have imposed the same measure. Once the recall ends, the South Korean company will have to implement new marketing strategies in order to recommence sales.
Samsung is currently in the process of recalling millions of Galaxy Note 7 units after several reports of faulty batteries that caused the device to catch fire. It seems that the South Korean giant decided in favor of a recall, although only about 0.0024% of units were found with a faulty battery.
A report by HardwareZone reveals that the battery cell on Note 7 units started overheating when the anode-to-cathode came in contact. The anode and cathode lie on opposite ends of a battery, and such a manufacturing process error is quite rare, but sometimes it does happen with lithium ion batteries.
In fact, there have been numerous reports of smartphones catching fire in the past few years, with some even exploding, but it seems that only Samsung decided to play it on the safe side and recall units.
Samsung could release the Onyx Black variant in Korea next month
It's interesting to see what the company's strategy will be after the recall ends. Korea Herald reports that Samsung could be relying on the Onyx Black color variant for the Note 7 in order to win customers back, once sales restart. The company may intend to launch the black color variant in October in Korea. The color wasn't available last month, and some analysts said that Samsung would have released it after Apple's iPhone 7 debut on September 7.
Samsung implemented different color strategies in different markets, and it delayed the launch of the Gold Platinum variant in the US and Silver Titanium in China. The company may not launch the Coral Blue variant in India, although it has been very popular in Korea.
It's worth noting that Samsung is expected to start the recall on September 19 in Korea, and Note 7 owners from various other countries will surely get their replacements in the coming weeks. The company already offers full refunds to customers, and they will be getting replacement devices in the coming days.