Samsung has had problems as of late in its debacle with the Galaxy Note 7. It's no secret that Samsung has gotten its fair share of grief for how its QA (Quality Assurance) system allowed all of the phones to be fully produced and released to consumers. This was an alarming issue that came up when several owners of the devices started complaining about the phones overheating, sometimes to the point where the phone would explode. The Internet decided to take this fiasco and make it into one of the biggest memes of all time, showing various images of the phones being used by soldiers as an explosive and countless other humorous situations. In case anyone is unaware, though, the Internet is not biased in its disdain for big companies or in criticizing mistakes made by both individuals and companies. Samsung and Apple are a couple of the world's largest companies in tech, and with that success, it also puts a giant target on the backs of these companies.
Apple has experienced issues with their iPhones as well, just like the iPhone 6 Plus bending for some consumers. Almost every company has had some type of mishap throughout the existence of their company. This is extremely prevalent with technology because there are a lot of electrical components that have to be arranged properly. The tech world is also very unforgiving when these mistakes are made. All it takes is one huge mistake, and the company could be in a place where it can't be credible in the tech space anymore. A good example has to be Blackberry and their failure to adapt as soon as smartphones began taking over the world.
The thing that stood out to me, though, has been the way that Samsung has handled this whole process. They handled it very professionally, even though they didn't make the call to get rid of the Note 7 sooner. They issued warnings to consumers and then sent replacements to all consumers who purchased one of the devices, which had to cost them a lot. Then, they still had issues with the devices and were at that point forced to take them off the market and offer a replacement as well as a discount on future Samsung devices. While they did take their time in making the final call to take the phone off the market, there are some positives to take away from the account. The main point that makes me feel like Samsung won't fall into the sea of all other smartphone manufacturers has been the fact that Samsung has been apologetic and tried to ensure customer safety throughout this entire process. This event went as far as when they recalled the phones, they sent consumers a glove and fireproof box for the phones to be shipped back in. Samsung also recently posted a full public apology for the issues they had with the Note 7, even going as far as to say they are "re-thinking their engineering and quality assurance practices". Recalling all of these devices had to cost Samsung some dough. I mean issuing thousands of brand new devices, and finally taking them back to offer the customers an alternative device had to cost a small fortune.
Samsung's mistake is going to cost them alright, but it can't kill the company. At this point, they are the epitome of "too big to fail". Samsung has built a consumer base that rivals that of Apple, if not even larger. This means that some consumers are going to be loyal to the brand, regardless of the circumstances, unless the exploding phone harmed you or someone you know. Most people weren't affected by this incident and therefore will remain loyal to the brand. The company tried its best to retain these loyal fans, even though it may have cost them a ton. They are set to release the Samsung Galaxy S8 sometime next year and all eyes will be on the company to see what happens next.
