It’s done. The day has finally come. Samsung has confirmed to multiple news outlets that it is permanently ending production of its ill-fated Galaxy Note 7, hours after it released a statement suspending global sales of the device and urging users to power down the device and return it for a refund or exchange with other devices on offer.
This will mark the end of a major headache for the company in terms of both its image and customer relations.
The Galaxy Note 7, initially hailed by reviewers as the best smartphone that Samsung had ever released and one of if not the best smartphone in the world, was plagued by many reports of various units exploding and catching fire around the fire. Those reports resulted in a voluntary recall announcement that saw the over 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 units that had either been sold, shipped or in stock at that time, returned to the company. Even after conducting its own safety checks and assuring customers that all was well, devices deemed safe were still being reported to be exploding. This forced carriers and other retailers around the world to hold off selling the device. Eventually, the company was forced to issue yet another recall order.
Several media reports have blamed the Galaxy Note 7’s fiasco to the rushed production schedule that put a huge strain on parts suppliers as Samsung tried to beat Apple’s then impending iPhone 7 release by getting to the market first. While at first the blowing up Note 7s were said to be as a result of faulty battery units, the company is now mum on the matter as it awaits completion of its own internal investigations and those being done by others like consumer rights and protection bodies in some countries.
With the Note 7’s production lines shutting down for good, it’s all but over for the device that many never got to see and which the company hoped to sell over 20 million units.
