Samsung received complaints regarding fires of several of its Note 7 replacement phones and has suspended the production of the flagship phone.
Worst Crisis
One of the worst crises hits the Korean tech giant, Samsung Electronics, when it was forced to stop the production of the Note 7 phones as a result of several complaints regarding fire related to the devices that it had replaced to users.
Ban on Using
Many of the major airlines in the US and in Australia have suspended the sale of Note 7 or its exchange. They have also banned the use of the phone, when news about smoke emanating from the replaced device forced the airlines to evacuate the passenger in an airplane in the US a few days back.
Latest Disaster
Many of the affected phones were recalled and Samsung is in the process of replacing these phones with new Note 7 phones. However, if even the replacement devices start to explode, it suggests that the tech giant has not been able to fix the problem. This will hurt the reputation of the brand in a major way and totally derail its recovery in the world of smartphones.
Self Destruction
If the company continues the production of the Note 7, this will be the standing example of a company destroying itself in the history of the smartphone world and technology, according to Eric Schiffer, who is an expert of brand strategy. He is also the chairman of the RMC or Reputation Management Consultants. According to him, the company has to take the decision of wiping out the Note 7 completely and put it alongside Ford Pinto, in the Hall of Shame where it belongs.
Samsung’s Comments
According to company spokesmen, the company was making some adjustments to the shipment of the Note 7 devices, so that inspections could be carried out and the quality control could be made better, as some of the devices had caught fire. However, the company made no comments regarding the halting of the production of the said device. It did not also allude to the cause of the fire. The source also did not offer any explanation regarding a specific problem that was the cause or whether a specific cause had been identified or even if the production of the device had been stopped.
Samsung has informed Reuters that the heat and damage issues were being investigation and the company was taking action to fix problems, with measures that were approved by the Safety commission of Consumer products in the US.
Global Recalling
The company had announced the global recalling of 2.5 million of the Note 7 devices on the 2nd of September, as the batteries of the phones were faulty causing fire to some of the devices. New batteries were ordered by from other suppliers and the replacement devices were shipped to customers about two weeks onwards. However, the same problem occurred with the new replacement devices, when a device caught fire and started smoking in a Southwest flight in the US.