Samsung is expected to lose a few billion dollars over the ill-fated Note 7 which got discontinued after numerous reports of spontaneous battery fires. The Note 7 debacle has created an opportunity not just for Apple and Google, but just about every vendor out there that builds high-end smartphones.
According to DigiTimes, Apple has now increased iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus orders for the crucial holiday quarter as it looks to snatch some market share from Samsung.
I wish I thought about this: someone's actually made a case with a decal designed to make your iPhone look like an exploded Galaxy Note 7 from Samsung. Aptly named Explo-Sung iPhone Skin, it's available for all iPhones from the iPhone 5 onward. The $24.95 case is made by a company called UniqFind which happens to sell a range of skins for Mac notebooks and iOS devices on Amazon.
Global Note 7 recall and discontinuation could prove to be a blessing to Apple, helping the Cupertino firm boost iPhone sales by five to seven million units, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In a note to clients this morning, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors, the analyst speculates that Apple and Chinese Android manufacturer Huawei could be the primary beneficiaries of the Note 7 discontinuation, with Apple potentially seeing an influx of orders for the iPhone 7 Plus due to its dual-camera system.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and The Department of Transportation (DoT) have banned Samsung's recalled Note 7 smartphones from all domestic airline flights in the United States beginning Saturday, officials announced in an emergency order.
A few days ago, Samsung permanently stopped production of the troubled smartphone following incidents in which replacement devices it deemed safe exhibited the same fire-prone defect, even when powered down.
Unperturbed by its ill-fated Note 7 flagship, which Samsung has now permanently stopped building due to ongoing battery woes, development of a next-generation Galaxy smartphone is in full swing. Reportedly, the troubled South Korean company is “paying extra careful attention” towards the development of the Galaxy S8.
That's not just because of quality control issues with the Note 7, but also due to the fact that the Galaxy S8 packs in some “huge” hardware and design changes, according to a new report Tuesday from Korean news site ET News.
After temporarily halting production of its troubled Galaxy Note 7 smartphone earlier this week, Samsung confirmed in today's statement to TechCrunch that it's permanently discontinued the production of its flagship Galaxy smartphone over multiple incidents of exploding batteries.
This past weekend, major U.S. carriers AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint stopped offering new units as replacements for those affected by Samsung's global recall. U.S. carriers are now offering Note 7 customers replacement devices from other brands, including Apple's latest iPhone.
Jordan Golson, reporting for The Verge, is writing that the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission is opening an investigation into yesterday's incident when Southwest Airlines flight 994 from Louisville to Baltimore was evacuated while still at the gate because of a smoking Note 7.
A spokesperson for the airline told The Verge that all passengers and crew exited the plane through the main cabin door and no injuries were reported.
Following an unprecedented global recall of at least 2.5 million Note 7 smartphones due to faulty batteries causing some of the units to catch fire, Samsung today told Reuters that more than one million people worldwide are now using Galaxy Note 7 smartphones with batteries that are not vulnerable to overheating and catching fire. However, the firm has another problem on its hands: exploding washing machines. It's certainly been a rough month for Samsung.
Yesterday, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission warned owners of certain top-loading Samsung washing machines of “safety issues” following reports that some have exploded.
After they began hearing earlier this year that the iPhone 7 would look just like the previous two models, the top brass at Samsung Electronics, including its mobile chief D.J. Koh, have made the decision to outmaneuver Apple and move up the launch of the Note 7 to early August. In hindsight, it was a risky, ill-fated move that has backfired and damaged Samsung's brand and reputation.
In its desire to beat the “dull” iPhone 7 to market, Samsung pushed suppliers to meet tighter deadlines which caused problems with the handset's battery, according to a report Monday from Bloomberg citing “people familiar with the matter”.
Although Samsung's latest Galaxy S7 flagship smartphone series proudly boasts the 3.5mm headphone jack, the South Korean conglomerate may also remove the industry-standard jack from its next-gen Galaxy S8, reports Digital Music News. Internally code-named “Dream” (Galaxy S8) and “Dream2” (Galaxy S8 Edge), these devices may replace the 3.5mm jack with a proprietary port.
The company is said to be “actively” and “aggressively” exploring the possibility of releasing a proprietary headphone jack to see how viable it would be.
It looked like Samsung was well poised to steal some of Apple's thunder by releasing its Note 7 phablet with a redesigned appearance and wraparound screen ahead of Apple's iPhone 7 event. But following reports from users around the world about a battery issue that has caused some handsets to catch fire or explode, Samsung has now announced plans to recall every single Note 7 sold in order to prevent further damage and has also abandoned today's scheduled Note 7 launch in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.
Samsung's Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, along with the recently launched Note 7, may not be enough to steal Apple's thunder as the Cupertino firm preps to unveil its next iPhone on September 7.
According to the rumors, a sophisticated dual-lens camera system is expected to give the iPhone 7 DSLR-like features with RAW camera capture, optical zoom, better lowlight photography and more.
With that in mind, little wonder that Samsung is now reportedly looking to update its flagship smartphone line with dual cameras of its own.