The last half of 2016 was not kind to Samsung. First the company had to recall of its well-received Galaxy Note7 due its propensity to explode. Then the tech giant had to issue a recall for the replacement Note7 handsets it sent to consumers, because they too were exploding. Heck, you still can’t even bring a Note7 on a plane.
Next the South Korean conglomerate had to recall roughly 3 million of its top-loading washing machines because they were literally blowing their tops. And finally, there is the ongoing political scandal involving Samsung, Korea’s National Pension Service and South Korean President Park Geun-hye regarding her adviser’s alleged extortion of Korean businesses.
But Samsung is a HUGE company. And despite these problems, it still managed to turn a profit. Now, I’m not equipped to give Samsung tips on how to handle its political issues — I have an English degree, for God’s sake — and I’m not an expert on washing machines.
But I do know a lot about smartphones, and can provide some insight as to how the company can win back the customers it lost due to the Note7’s explosive year.
A smartphone to help consumers forget the Note7
Samsung’s Galaxy Note line is important for the company, but it’s not the tech giant’s flagship. That title belongs to the Galaxy S7. A certified success thanks to its excellent camera, beautiful display and waterproof design, the S7 was one of the best phones of 2016.
Unfortunately, because the Galaxy S7 is a Samsung phone, some consumers think the handset has the same problems as the Note. If Samsung wants to help people forget about the Note7 and regain consumer trust, it needs to put out a new Galaxy S smartphone that blows the S7 and Note7 out of the water. And that could be just what the company is doing.
Back in October Samsung acquired an artificial intelligence company called Viv. Founded by some of the same people responsible Apple’s Siri, Viv is an intelligent digital personal assistant that’s supposed to give Siri and Google’s own Google Assistant a run for their money.
Then there are the rumors about the next Galaxy S phone’s design. According to reports, the handset, which will likely be called the Galaxy S8, could get an edge-to-edge glass display as well as two rear cameras similar to Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus.
If the Galaxy S8 offers enough in terms of capabilities, it could make consumers completely forget about the … uh, what was it called again?
Killing the Note name
What’s in a name? A lot if the name is tied to a smartphone that tends to spontaneously catch fire. The Note7 will be linked to its flaming battery for as long as people remember the handset’s name. And that could be a problem for Samsung if it decides to roll out a Note8 in 2017.
Apple currently has two versions of its iPhone 7, a standard 4.7-inch edition and the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus, so Samsung needs a big-screen handset to compete with its chief rival. But calling its iPhone 7 Plus-fighter the Note8 could turn off consumers burned — see what I did there — by the Note7. Tuong Nguyen with the market research firm Gartner Inc. told Yahoo Finance in a previous interview that Samsung might do well to fold the Note into the Galaxy S brand.
That means rather than having a Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note8, Samsung would have the S8 and S8 Plus. Doing so would ensure the company’s big-screen smartphone would get the brand recognition of Samsung’s S series without the baggage of the Note name.
Slow down and sweat the details
There are likely a number of factors that resulted in the Note7 fiasco, but one theory that stands out the most is that Samsung simply rushed the Note7 to market in order to beat Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 7 Plus debut.
In a previous interview, Georgetown University’s assistant professor of operations and information management John Cui told Yahoo Finance that Samsung was so set on creating an innovative product complete with a curved display, slim and powerful battery and fast-charging technology that the company overlooked robustness checks.
An expert on global production trends and supply chains, Cui said that if Samsung had simply rolled out an updated Note and called it the Note6, the company would have been fine. Then again, doing so would have elicited criticism from yours truly and other technology writers.
If Samsung takes a more careful, deliberate approach to its next big-screen handset rather than trying to rush it out the door to compete with Apple’s offerings, it should avoid a repeat of the Note7 disaster.
Combatting its new competition
The Note7, though, is nothing compared to the growing threat Chinese smartphone makers pose to Samsung’s mobile division. Currently, Samsung is the world’s largest handset maker. But companies like Huawei, Xiaomi and others have gained significant traction in their home country thanks to their high-quality, low-cost handsets. And they show no signs of slowing down.
These companies aren’t a threat to just Samsung’s dominance, either. Apple is running into the same issues with regards to Chinese handset makers.
So what is Samsung to do? Well, if it’s going to fight on a level playing field, it needs to lower the cost of its products without sacrificing quality, which could be a problem. Outside of that, the company could simply out-innovate its competitors by such a wide margin consumers can’t help but be interested in Samsung devices.
None of these suggestions, by the way, are outside of the realm of possibility. In fact, Samsung could pull all of them off in one production cycle. But if the company doesn’t try something to right its ship, 2017 could be the year Samsung’s mobile division loses its crown.
