Samsung recalls all Galaxy Note 7 phones

A month ago, Samsung issued one of the biggest recalls of its  history, asking customers who had purchased its Samsung Galaxy Note 7 to return their phones because of a battery issue. Despite Samsung’s action, the problem is far from over.

The initial recall for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, a competitor for the iPhone 7, was due to reports of the battery exploding and catching fire. The issue not only caused Samsung to issue a recall, but also resulted in action from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The battery explosion can cause severe harm to users and those nearby, and it is hard to contain the explosion and fire. FAA, who considered the phone a flight safety risk, put in specific precautions to protect its flyers from the phone.

Samsung offered brand new replacements for any customer who brought in their Samsung Galaxy Note 7. Customers could choose between other Samsung phones or the reissued Galaxy Note 7s, which had updated batteries.

The recall seemed to work for the company, but the resolution was short lived. Earlier this month, Samsung announced a second recall of all versions of the phone, after over 100 reported cases of battery explosions in the U.S. alone. Samsung followed that announcement by halting all production of the phone. Samsung officially cancelled the sale of the phone and began officially recalling every phone from retailers.

In a later statement, Samsung officials expressed its concern for its customers’ safety.

“Taking our customer’s safety as our highest priority, we have decided to halt sales and production of the Galaxy Note 7,” Samsung said.

Samsung banned the sale of any Note 7, and the FAA took further action. The FAA expressed deep concern for flyer safety and announced that it would be banning individuals from boarding any U.S. flight with the Note 7. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx discussed the ban last Friday.

“We recognize that banning these phones from airlines will inconvenience some passengers, but the safety of all those aboard an aircraft must take priority,” Foxx said. “We are taking this additional step because even one fire incident in-flight poses a high risk of severe personal injury and puts many lives at risk.”

Several international airlines also banned the phones from flights. The FAA also stated that individuals who knowingly try to bring the Note 7 on the flight could face a fine and the phone would be confiscated by officials. The FAA further discussed that security agents would not actively be searching for the phone, no individual should attempt to bring the phone on. If discovered during the flight, flight attendants have been given special procedures on how to deal with the phone.

Now that Samsung has issued a total recall, the company is facing a huge problem of disposing of the phones. There have reportedly been 2.5 million Note 7s sold, and it is unknown how many have been produced and are in stores or storage.

Samsung had projected to sell 19 million Note 7s during the product’s life cycles. According to Reuters, it is now looking at an estimated cost of $17 billion for recalling the phone.

Samsung is considered to be Apple’s biggest rival when it comes to phones sales, mainly due to its Samsung Galaxy S phones. The latest version, the Galaxy S8, is set to be released sometime early 2017. The phone looks to be the best phone Samsung has released to date, both performance and feature wise.

Senior Chris Haines believed that Samsung may have ruined their chance to gain market share over Apple after its mediocre release of the iPhone 7.

“I heard about the problems Samsung had and I think they had a great opportunity to gain sales over the iPhone,” Haines said. “But they ruined their chance with those problems.”

For now, Samsung will attempt to recall and dispose of all their Note 7s. It is unclear if Samsung’s reputation will have recovered fully by the time it releases the Galaxy S8.

Written by Kevin Nelson, News Editor