[Poll] Should Samsung stop selling the Galaxy Note 7?

After the immense success of the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, the Galaxy Note 7 was expected to offer Samsung an upper hand against Apple’s iPhone 7 devices. However, things have turned in a dramatic manner for the company. Samsung had to recall most of the Galaxy Note 7 units sold worldwide due to faulty batteries that could lead to explosions, but even that isn’t going in the South Korean smartphone giant’s favor.

There have been multiple reports about ‘safe’ Galaxy Note 7 devices exploding. AT&T is reportedly considering to drop the Galaxy Note 7 from its lineup. An official statement from Samsung isn’t ruling out a safety issue with the replacement units. So, is it only the faulty battery in the Galaxy Note 7 that is causing explosions or is there something else that’s wrong with the smartphone? Whatever the reason is, Galaxy Note 7′s reputation has been maligned beyond repair.

We were wondering whether Samsung should stop selling the Galaxy Note 7 altogether to save its brand reputation? What do you think? Cast your votes in the poll embedded below.

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Official Samsung statement doesn’t rule out a safety issue with the supposedly safe Galaxy Note 7

Samsung has been running a replacement program for the past couple of weeks for the Galaxy Note 7. It has promised to replace all initial units of the Galaxy Note 7 with new, safe handsets. These new units were supposed to be safe and devoid of the battery cell issue that caused this entire debacle in the first place. Samsung risks finding itself in more trouble if reports of replacement units exploding keep coming in.

It was reported earlier this week that an airplane had to be evacuated because a replacement Galaxy Note 7 caught fire. The second such report came from a user in Taiwan, her new Galaxy Note 7 apparently caught fire while it was inside her jeans. There has already been some speculation about the Galaxy Note 7′s future in light of these recent reports, it has even been claimed that AT&T is thinking about dumping the Galaxy Note 7 from its lineup completely.

The speculation has probably prompted Samsung to issue a statement in which the company says that it “understands the concern our carriers and consumers must be feeling after recent reports have raised questions about our newly released replacement Note7 devices.” The company says that it continues to move quickly to investigate the matter and find out the cause, it promises to share findings as soon as possible.

Samsung has acknowledged that it remains in contact with the CPSC throughout this entire process. What’s interesting to note is that Samsung isn’t ruling out a potential safety issue with replacement units that are supposed to be safe. The company says that if it finds a safety issue it will work with the CPSC to take “to take immediate steps to address the situation.” The company reassures customers that it takes every report seriously and that it appreciates their patience as it works through this process.

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It appears another safe Galaxy Note 7 has exploded

Samsung reassured its customers that the safe Galaxy Note 7 units that it was handing out as part of the replacement program did not suffer from the same battery issue as the initial batch of its new flagship. The company might find it hard to substantiate that argument if reports of replacement Galaxy Note 7 units exploding keep coming in. Earlier this week we reported on one such incident where the replacement unit exploded on a plane and now there’s a report out of Taiwan claiming that a replacement unit exploded and charred the phone.

A local newspaper report brings us the story of a 26-year-old female named Lai who was walking her dog in the park when her replacement Galaxy Note 7 exploded. The phone was in her back pocket, she first heard a “bang” sound and felt the heat upon which she took the device out of her pocket and threw it on the ground. Lai says that she bought the Galaxy Note 7 when it came out in August and replaced her old unit for a supposedly safe one on September 27.

The newspaper has published pictures of the device as well as the retail box which carries a black dot which is what you need to look for on the box when trying to identify if it’s a safe unit or not. It looks very similar to the Galaxy Note 7 units that have exploded as a result of the battery issue before it.

Consumers’ Foundation of Taiwan has now called on Samsung to suspend sales as well as replacement of the Galaxy Note 7 in the country because continuing to do so would be akin to “sending bombs to customers.” Samsung Taiwan has said in a statement that it’s trying to reach out to the customer to obtain the device so that it can conduct an investigation and find the cause of this incident.

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Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge now receiving October security patch in India

Samsung is now in the midst of pushing out this month’s security patch to all factory unlocked models of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge purchased in India. As outlined in the changelog that was published on the firm’s Security Blog on Monday, the upgrade transports fixes for a total of 68 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) in both the Android OS and its latest smartphones.

The update, which weighs in at a little under 135 MB, is being distributed in stages. To see if it’s ready to be downloaded and installed on your device, head into Settings » About Device » Software Update » Update Now. Alternatively, you can always wait until you receive an automatic push notification prompting you to upgrade.

Thanks, Dilpreet! 

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Galaxy C9 makes a pitstop at the FCC

Earlier today, an unannounced smartphone with Galaxy branding passed through the United States of America’s official certification authority, the FCC. Sadly, the information included in the filing doesn’t reveal anything about the device. It simply states that the handset carries the model number SM-C9000, which leads us to believe we’re looking at the very same Galaxy C9 that was imported into India for testing two weeks ago.

Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to confirm any of the specifications the unit will pack. Although, a couple of recent benchmarking tests suggest that it’ll sport a 6-inch Full HD display, a Snapdragon 625 chipset, a colossal 6GB of RAM, a 16MP rear-facing camera, a 16MP selfie shooter and a 4,000mAh non-removable battery. It’s also expected to ship with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow pre-installed, but will receive the Nougat update.

Seeing as the Galaxy C9 has already received the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi certification certificates it needs to debut on the open market, it shouldn’t be too much longer until it hits the shelves. It’s rumored to launch in China by the end of October and will be available in the United States by mid-November. At this precise moment in time, there’s no information that hints towards the handset being released in Europe.

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AT&T is considering dropping the Galaxy Note 7 from its lineup

If a new report published by Bloomberg is anything to go by, it would appear that AT&T is considering permanently halting sales of the Galaxy Note 7 and remove it from its massive lineup of smartphones. Sources familiar with the situation have even gone as far to say that the carrier has already made the decision to drop the handset, which will prove to be problematic for Samsung seeing as the operator is its third-largest client.

It’s currently unclear why AT&T is looking to axe the Galaxy Note 7, but it likely has something to do with the incident that occurred on a Southwest Airlines flight on Wednesday when an aircraft was evacuated as a result of a passenger’s alleged replacement unit bursting into flames before takeoff. What’s strange, however, is that the CPSC hasn’t presented its findings yet, so it’s still perfectly plausible that the ‘safe’ Note 7 wasn’t to blame for the fire.

It goes without saying, though, that AT&T is one of the most influential service providers in the United States, and if it makes the decision to stop selling the Galaxy Note 7 entirely, other carriers in the region will likely follow. Obviously, this will cause some pretty big issues for Samsung as operators are currently letting owners return their device in exchange for a completely different smartphone, so the South Korean company is set to receive a ton of stock that it won’t be able to offload.

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