New Recommendation Against Using Galaxy Note 7 by the U.S. Government

[Samsung, at last suspension of use…]

There is nervousness from the Galaxy Note 7 explosions in various countries.  While Samsung was preparing for the recall, the U.S., after announcing not to use the Note 7 on airplanes,” also recommended not using it in daily life. What is worse… Some say this is “Shaking of Samsung by the U.S.”

 

Samsung Electronics itself has recommended to the entire world to “Stop Using Galaxy Note 7,” indicating that this product explosion issue has entered into a serious state. The damage on the brand image and reliability of Samsung is now unavoidable. The issue seemed to have been alleviated until Samsung Electronics announced on the 2nd of October that it would exchange all products for new ones.

◇ How did Samsung end up making the “Announcement of Suspension of Use?”

When Samsung decided to make the recall and endure the loss of one trillion won, it was thought that the “impact of the recall would not last long.” Quick investigation of the cause and apology and the decisive announcement of the recall led to the conjecture that the consumers around the world would not oppose Samsung for long. Some even stated that Samsung may take this misfortune as an opportunity and would have very little damage.

However, after preparing for the recall during a two week period, another problem occurred.. Even after the announcement of recall, there were incidents of explosions in ten countries including Korea, the U.S., Australia, and others, and the foreign press covered the issue extensively. Just before the announcement of the recall on September 1st, Samsung there were 35 reported explosions, and more than 10 new cases have emerged since then. Consumers again began to take this issue seriously.

Moreover, as a follow-up measure of the recall, the air safety agency in each country has taken actions. The Federal Aviation Administration of the U.S. has announced the “Suspension of the Use and Charging of Galaxy Note 7 on Board” on the 8th of this month (local time), and the governments in Europe, Canada, Japan, and India have also taken the similar actions. Private airlines – United Airlines in the U.S., Cathay Pacific Airways of Hong Kong, Singapore Airlines, Qantas Airways of Australia, and Emirates Airlines – have prohibited the shipment of Galaxy Note 7 in luggage and, and they actually regard this product as a “Hazardous Explosive.” Furthermore, the Consumer Product Safety Commission under the U.S. Government strongly recommended that consumers “Stop Using Galaxy Note 7”. The Consumer Product Safety Commission of the U.S., an agency with global influence, has given a fatal blow to Galaxy Note 7.

Samsung Electronics stated that there will be a safety inspection through service centers until there is an exchange for new products, but the fact that consumers have not reacted to this has become a potential risk. Among 400,000 domestic consumers, only 10% has visited the center for inspection. Analysts say that consumers have postponed this inspection because Samsung has announced that the defect rate is only “24 out of one million (0.0024%).” This number is based on the number of defective products received until the announcement of the recall, but it has been taken as covering all defective prouducts, aggravating the situation.

◇ Perspective of the U.S., “Containment of Samsung to Protect the Domestic Industry”

As Samsung has made an unprecedented decision of suspending the use of a product, there will be a substantial adverse effect on the image of “Samsung Quality.” Especially, as the Note 7 was so sensational in the beginning, there may be significant influence against Samsung as rival corporations will take advantage of the recall of the Note 7.

Some say that this recommendation to suspend the use of the Note 7 by the U.S. Government is a measure to contain Samsung. Some experts are saying that although this incident has originated inside Samsung, the U.S. Government is supporting the domestic corporations like Apple by actively using this incident within legal boundaries. In 2006, when there was an issue with Sony Battery in Dell Computer of the U.S., the U.S. Government became involved in this incident and the result was a recall of about 9.6 million computers. Thereafter, Sony’s battery business collapsed completely. Professor Lee, Byeong-tae from the School of Business in KAIST said, "It is always spontaneous for the government in each country to use the regulations to protect the domestic industry. For Samsung, there is no solution other than launching another non-defective product as soon as possible to recover customer trust as soon as possible.”

 

<From Chosun Newspaper>