What's next for Samsung?

[nj-morris]

So, the news is in, and Samsung have officially discontinued the Note 7. And Samsung clearly need something to get back on their feet, as well as to satisfy their customers. So what do you think they will do?

My guess is something along the lines of integrating the Note line into the S line, maybe making three or four models of the S8, with a mixture of flat and edge models, ranging in size from 5 to 6 inches. Not too sure what they will do about the S Pen though.

 

[keysofanxiety]

I think it's so bad, they won't even be bringing out a new phone with the 'Note' name. So I very much agree that they'll integrate it with existing lines.

 

[bmac4]

I have never seen anything like this before. It's really pretty crazy, but I think Samsung should have done this a long time ago. I think they only hurt their reputation by continuing to sell the phone. I don't think they ever fixed the issue, but they tried to put a bandaid on it and act like everything was fine.

I really don't know how you pounce back from this. At least for the last several months. Maybe people before it about, but as soon as their next phone is announced. All the media will be saying is, this is the first phone Samsung has released since the Note 7 exploding issues. They have a lot of work to do.

 

[g0df4th3r]

As much as I love the Note series, Samsung should cancel it. Make a Galaxy S with Note capabilities and bigger screen like what they did to the S6 Edge Plus.

 

[AppleRobert]

I have never seen anything like this before. It's really pretty crazy, but I think Samsung should have done this a long time ago. I think they only hurt their reputation by continuing to sell the phone. I don't think they ever fixed the issue, but they tried to put a bandaid on it and act like everything was fine.

I really don't know how you pounce back from this. At least for the last several months. Maybe people before it about, but as soon as their next phone is announced. All the media will be saying is, this is the first phone Samsung has released since the Note 7 exploding issues. They have a lot of work to do.

I agree, they could not possibly replace 2.5M smartphones especially in a timely manner and used a bandaid.

No choice but to take the hit. Too bad because the Samsung 7 series was aces, amongst the best smartphones on the market.

 

[Channan]

Samsung's entire brand will take a hit, but the Note line will take it the hardest. What they should do next year is have a normal sized Galaxy S8 and a Galaxy S8 Edge with S Pen support to replace the Note. No more Notes.

 

[Fishrrman]

Not phone-related, but I'd like to see Samsung revive their camera line.
The NX1 was a remarkable release, widely-praised.
Yet they pulled it (and the rest of their lineup) from the market...

 

[MRU]

Pin pointing where the N7 went wrong.

Assign blame to a department or someone to take brunt of the fallout

A mobile devision corporate reshuffle

Samsung SDI closed / dissolved

then

Full steam ahead with S8, and hope lessons have been learned.



My prediction as I've been saying for a good while now.

Note brand is dead. S-Pen will live on and become a third SKU so S8, S8 Edge, S8 Pen .....

 

[bmac4]

Pin pointing where the N7 went wrong.

Assign blame to a department or someone to take brunt of the fallout

A mobile devision corporate reshuffle

Samsung SDI closed / dissolved

then

Full steam ahead with S8, and hope lessons have been learned.



My prediction as I've been saying for a good while now.

Note brand is dead. S-Pen will live on and become a third SKU so S8, S8 Edge, S8 Pen .....

I think you are spot on. They have some real rebuilding to do, and a huge up hill battle with customers. I know people that don't care a thing about tech and smartphones asking me about the explosive Note 7. This goes well beyond the reach of the tech community, and with the way stuff gets spread these days. It will take a really long to get their rep back.

Do you think Apple and others will take advantage of this with ads? Apple does not seem to do the low blow marketing, but man this it a good change to just kill Samsung.

 

[MRU]

Do you think Apple and others will take advantage of this with ads? Apple does not seem to do the low blow marketing, but man this it a good change to just kill Samsung.

I don't think Apple will do so. They announced the ip7 the day of first recall and avoided any mention unlike Samsung in their N7 unveiling where they had a jibe at Apple.

LG have already had a dig at Samsung, and I'm sure the Chinese OEM's will play on it big time.

 

[nj-morris]

My prediction as I've been saying for a good while now.

Note brand is dead. S-Pen will live on and become a third SKU so S8, S8 Edge, S8 Pen .....

Probably. I think the market for the S Pen might be a bit of a niche by now, especially because of the last two versions (cut out from Europe, discontinued). They might just sell it as an extra accessory, I don't know. Samsung got creative with the S7, releasing the flat and edge with different sizes. I think the same mentality will follow through with the S8, but maybe with more phones and more potential in each one.

 

[apolloa]

So, the news is in, and Samsung have officially discontinued the Note 7. And Samsung clearly need something to get back on their feet, as well as to satisfy their customers. So what do you think they will do?

My guess is something along the lines of integrating the Note line into the S line, maybe making three or four models of the S8, with a mixture of flat and edge models, ranging in size from 5 to 6 inches. Not too sure what they will do about the S Pen though.

They won't do anything until the S8 is launched so the media storm can settle down. They don't need to do anything and will launch the Note 8 next year that doesn't blow up.
People do act as though this is the first faulty product I'm history...

 

[bmac4]

They won't do anything until the S8 is launched so the media storm can settle down. They don't need to do anything and will launch the Note 8 next year that doesn't blow up.
People do act as though this is the first faulty product I'm history...

Has something like this every happened before? I don't remember it.

 

[Mark316]

They need to come out swinging with the S8. It needs to be a must have phone because if it's just a spec bumped S7 no ones going to chance it. It needs to be a phone that everyone is amazed by.

The Note name is dead. That doesn't mean they can't release another S Pen phone, but it needs a new name.

 

[MRU]

Probably. I think the market for the S Pen might be a bit of a niche by now, especially because of the last two versions (cut out from Europe, discontinued). They might just sell it as an extra accessory, I don't know. Samsung got creative with the S7, releasing the flat and edge with different sizes. I think the same mentality will follow through with the S8, but maybe with more phones and more potential in each one.

Problem with that is it would increase costs because all devices would then have to be made with a wacom digitiser in order to avail of it. So they would simply not increase manufacturing costs for the sake of just those that want the s-pen.

 

[kasakka]

Problem with that is it would increase costs because all devices would then have to be made with a wacom digitiser in order to avail of it. So they would simply not increase manufacturing costs for the sake of just those that want the s-pen.

Plus the great thing about the S-Pen is that it fits inside your phone so you have it with you always rather than have to remember to take it with you when you leave home.

 

[apolloa]

Has something like this every happened before? I don't remember it.

You have a very short memory then, their have been plenty of faulty products over the years yet these companies are still in business doing fine.
Just in the UK alone:

http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.or...desit,-creda,-swan-and-proline-tumble-dryers/

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/root-cause-found-vauxhall-zafira-fires

And BMW:

http://www.edmunds.com/recalls/bmw.html

And Toyota:

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...s-34000-uk-vehicles-defective-airbag-concerns

Those last two, I think thousands and thousands of cars being recalled due to faulty brakes is up there with a few Note 7s catching fire.

And Ferrari had to recall the Italia because the glue used in the cars construction caught fire when the engine heated it up and a few caught fire:

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/ferrari-recalls-the-458-italia-due-to-fire-risk-24049.html

So yeah, I take it with an INCREDIBLY TINY GRAIN OF SALT when people proclaim the end of Samsung, the end of the Note line, no one will buy a Samsung phone, the Samsung name is tarnished for ever and so on and on and on and on...

Because their is PLENTY of evidence out there to prove otherwise. It is nothing but pure hyperbole overblown bs to claim anything else really.

 

[MRU]

You have a very short memory then, their have been plenty of faulty products over the years yet these companies are still in business doing fine.

I believe he was referring to Smartphones and moreover flagship Smartphones rather than just electronics in general.

This is the first major flagship smartphone to have such a major blooper that it had to be recalled, relaunched and then shelved.

Samsung will be fine, if they can make sure that the S8 is a success and has only a small percentage of the normal kind of manufacture defects then people will forgive if not forget.

 

[apolloa]

I believe he was referring to Smartphones and moreover flagship Smartphones rather than just electronics in general.

This is the first major flagship smartphone to have such a major blooper ...

Samsung will be fine, if they can make sure that the S8 is a success and has only a small percentage of the normal kind of manufacture defects then people will forgive if not forget.

Mate, Ferrari had to recall cars that caught fire! It didn't damage their reputation, plenty of recalls over the years of different products prove the public will just forget about it all in a couple of months and move on, the S8 will probably sell like hot cakes if you pardon the pun.

 

[tbayrgs]

Samsung will be just fine. As @apolloa pointed out, other companies have had significant recalls and life keeps on going.

I think the Note brand is dead though. They'll continue to release a professional level flagship with a S-Pen (or at least I hope they do) but it won't be called a Note. Someone else earlier mentioned a Galaxy SX Pro as the new branding going forward--that would be my guess as well for their stylus phone.

 

[bmac4]

Mate, Ferrari had to recall cars that caught fire! It didn't damage their reputation, plenty of recalls over the years of different products prove the public will just forget about it all in a couple of months and move on, the S8 will probably sell like hot cakes if you pardon the pun.

Uh I think Ferrari is something much different then Samsung. Sorry but the Ferrari brand is a much more historic company. They have been around for years making some of the best cars in the world. Samsung can't say that just yet.

Now MRU was right. I was talking in terms of smartphones. There have been much worse issues beyond smartphones, but that is not at all what I was talking about.

 

[MRU]

Mate, Ferrari had to recall cars that caught fire! It didn't damage their reputation, plenty of recalls over the years of different products prove the public will just forget about it all in a couple of months and move on, the S8 will probably sell like hot cakes if you pardon the pun.

I don't disagree, i haven't said otherwise.

But like @tbayrgs I do think the Note brand itself is dead, but the S-Pen will live on as a spin-off from the S8 range.

After all Samsung has on the last few years been moving to more parallel specs between the S and the Note series (the Note acted just like an extension of it).

Launching an S-Pen pro version of the S8/edge at the same time as the S8 or just after would free up the end of the year for them to really try something new. Perhaps that folding screen device they have been rumoured to be working on ...

 

[bmac4]

Samsung will be just fine. As @apolloa pointed out, other companies have had significant recalls and life keeps on going.

I think the Note brand is dead though. They'll continue to release a professional level flagship with a S-Pen (or at least I hope they do) but it won't be called a Note. Someone else earlier mentioned a Galaxy SX Pro as the new branding going forward--that would be my guess as well for their stylus phone.

I am not sure we can say Samsung will be fine just yet. There still an investigation going on for what exactly happened with the Note 7. There is still a lot we don't know, and smartphones are much different then cars. We really don't know what the ramifications will be.

 

[apolloa]

Uh I think Ferrari is something much different then Samsung. Sorry but the Ferrari brand is a much more historic company. They have been around for years making some of the best cars in the world. Samsung can't say that just yet.

Now MRU was right. I was talking in terms of smartphones. There have been much worse issues beyond smartphones, but that is not at all what I was talking about.

How is your new Ferrari catching fire any different? It's a brand, you spent a lot of money in it, it blows up, its the exact same thought processes of its customers, I don't think how historic the brand is comes into your thinking when your 200 grand car goes up in flames, the same as the Vauxhall Zafira.
Apple had to recall its Nano first gen due to faulty batteries at risk of fire. People would still buy the Note 7 if it was left on sale, they still buy other products that have been recalled.

Also:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/nokia-recalls-batteries-at-risk-to-explode/

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/aug/15/mobilephones.technology

The above makes Samsungs recall look like nothing.

As I said, their have been plenty of product recalls over the years but and small and the public forgets and moves on and buys from the brand still...

It is PURE hyperbole to go on claiming anything else, history proves that fact!

 

[nj-morris]

Problem with that is it would increase costs because all devices would then have to be made with a wacom digitiser in order to avail of it. So they would simply not increase manufacturing costs for the sake of just those that want the s-pen.

Fair. As I say, the market is too much of a niche, so I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped it completely.