When the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was launched, it was met with high praise and many had said that this was an Android phone done right. We suppose over the years of launching Galaxy Note handsets, Samsung would have eventually perfected their creation, but unfortunately the launch was marred by a series of reports of the phones’ batteries exploding.
So much so that Samsung was forced to issue a global recall (save for China) for the handsets. Recalls are always expensive and this situation is no exception. According to a report from Bloomberg, it has been estimated that the recall could cost Samsung as much as $1 billion. Samsung has yet to confirm the numbers but according to Koh Dong Jin, Samsung’s head of smartphones, he said that it was a “heartbreaking amount”.
However bad it might seem, we guess it’s good that Samsung has caught the problem early. In case you haven’t heard, the issue comes from the batteries produced by one of Samsung’s divisions themselves, meaning that there is really no one else that they can blame for the battery issues.
So far Samsung has launched an exchange program where customers can trade in their existing handsets for either a brand new Galaxy Note 7, or alternatively they can opt for the slightly older Galaxy S7/S7 Edge handsets.
Filed in . Read more about Galaxy Note 7, Galaxy Note 7 Recall and Samsung.
