The lights have gone out on the Galaxy Note 7 following a series of events that have added up to a disaster for South Korean tech giant Samsung. It began a few weeks ago with reports that some Note 7 phones were exploding or catching fire due to a battery problem. After several incidents on planes, many airlines banned the phone from flights. Samsung made changes to the phone’s software and then offered to swap the original models for the new version. But the problem persisted and now the company has said neither version should be used. Instead, it will offer cash refunds or replacements from its other smartphone ranges.
It has been an embarrassing back-down for the company, which is thought to have rushed the phone to market so it would be available before the new Apple iPhone 7.
Samsung has faced internal turmoil in the past two years since its chairman, Kun-hee Lee, suffered a heart attack. The company is also facing tough competition from Chinese brands, including Huawei and Lenovo, which offer similar features in their mid-range devices at a lower price. And Google has recently entered the smartphone market, with cheaper Nexus models and its new high-end Pixel brand.
While the Note 7 debacle would seem to be a gift to it competitors – and the Apple share price has risen on the back of this news – it is a reminder not only of the need for corporate oversight, but of the difficulties that all tech manufacturers are having in developing reliable, long-lasting and quick-charging batteries. In this case, it is believed that negative and positive poles of the battery can come in contact, short-circuiting the devices and causing a meltdown.
Recalls of consumer products are nothing new. The car industry has it down to a fine art. Vehicles have been recalled – often years after sale – to repair faults ranging from airbag and tyre malfunctions to stuck cruise control devices that make it impossible to slow down. The Samsung incident should give all manufacturers pause for thought, about the way they design, test and release products, and the manner in which they cope with a corporate crisis.
