Given the bad publicity the Samsung Galaxy Note brand incurred as a result of the misfortunes surrounding its last product, the Galaxy Note 7, conventional wisdom would be to dump the lineup in the “dead forever” pit. But that’s not really going to happen as the Korean consumer electronics giant is sticking by one of its most iconic premium smartphone brands.
The Galaxy Note 7’s faulty battery fiasco did little to dampen the hearts and minds of Galaxy Note fans around the world and the company seems to have taken note of that (pun intended) according to Samsung boss D. J. Koh. “I will bring back a better, safer and very innovative Note 8,” Koh is quoted saying by technology publication CNET. According to him, as Samsung progressed with its internal investigation into what might have gone wrong with its ill-fated flagship device, it discovered that the Galaxy Note device range had so many loyal fans and it would be disappointing if the company went ahead and killed it.
Since Samsung had to resort to extreme and sometimes punitive measures in order to force Galaxy Note 7 buyers to turn in their devices, Koh and Samsung’s assertion is not surprising. Galaxy Note users love their devices. Not only that, given the long life cycle of Galaxy Note devices, there will soon be a whole lot of previous Galaxy Note (4 and 5) users looking to upgrade to “the next big thing” from the company.
The Galaxy Note lineup is widely credited with heralding the rush to big smartphones. Samsung unveiled the first generation Galaxy Note smartphone with a 5.3-inch display complete with a stylus at a time when both features seemed ungodly. The standard smartphone screen-size hobbled between a mere 3-inches and the iPhone standard, 3.5-inches. 4-inch smartphones were deemed exceedingly huge. Yet within just a few months of going on sale, the Galaxy Note convinced everyone that going big was the only way and here we are, 6-inch smartphones are the norm. And we’re comfortable calling them smartphones and not phablets, a term first coined to describe the Galaxy Note since it was more than a phone and not really a tablet.
However, with the Galaxy Note 7’s background, when the Galaxy Note 8, or whatever it will be called, does eventually see the light of day later this year, it will be under spotlight than any of its predecessors and every little occurrence will be analysed to the last detail. It could end up being a PR disaster just like the exploding Galaxy Note 7 was but it seems like that’s a risk Samsung is willing to take.
