Lessons Your Business Can Learn From the Galaxy Note 7 and 8

Samsung fans are getting geared up for the release of their new smartphone, the Galaxy Note 8. Even though it might seem as though the technology world has moved on from the exploding Note 7, you can be sure that Samsung is still feeling the reverberations from last year’s debacle that resulted from the now-infamous exploding of their much-anticipated Galaxy Note 7.

As many of you will remember, the fall of 2017 saw the debut of the Galaxy Note 7 met almost immediately with a permanent halt in production after a massive world-wide recall was issued by Samsung because of an issue that caused the Note 7’s battery to produce excessive heat and catch on fire. Reports of exploding Note 7s and the resulting bad press damaged Samsung’s reputation so much that they’re now struggling to regain market share with the upcoming release of their Note 8.

What precautions has Samsung taken to prevent Note 8 from exploding? Well, for starters, their phones are now put through their ‘eight-step battery safety test’, which includes: durability testing, visual inspection, X-rays, charge and discharge tests, tests of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), disassembling tests, accelerated usage tests, and open circuit voltage tests. That’s not to say that all these steps are brand new methods of testing of battery safety. Many of the steps were in place before but have been ‘enhanced’ after the exploding Note 7 batteries.

Additionally, the Note 8 has a smaller battery than its predecessor and is equipped with a stronger barrier between battery and rest of the phone. There have been no safety concerns reported thus far, but the Note 8 is still only in the infancy of its launch.

One thing that Samsung has had to focus on throughout the last year is mitigating the damage to its reputation. In February 2017, the annual Harris reputation poll showed just how much damage the exploding Note 7 had done, having gone from being ranked 7th highest regarded company in 2016, before the Note 7, to 49th in 2017, after the exploding phone was recalled and discontinued.

The development and production of the Note 8 has Samsung being uncharacteristically transparent with processes, going the extra mile to demonstrate their attention to safety concerns and details. They are aware that the damage caused by the Note 7 will likely be a point of hesitation to many of those considering a newer Note 8.

We’d love to hear your opinion on this technology hot button issue! Are you going to give the Note 8 a shot? Or are you still hesitant because of the exploding Note 7? How many of you decided to move away from Samsung products all together? Let us know in the comments!