29.03.2017
Samsung Debuts Galaxy S8 and S8+
Samsung today announced its next-generation flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S8 and S8+, at an event in New York, which I was able to attend in person. I'll post separate comments on some of the other announcements made today. The phones look really solid, with a great new design that quite dramatically changes the relationship between screen size and device size, in much the same way as Apple is expected to do later this year. The new design is much more comfortable to hold than last year's fairly angled efforts, but it has two tradeoffs: the fingerprint sensor is now on the back, and the aspect ratio is very long and thin, which may cause compatibility issues with apps and will mean letterboxing with videos. There are a few software features worth noting too: the new assistant Bixby, which combines voice control with some clever camera recognition tricks and proactive notifications, and broader application of Samsung Pay and Pass (the latter uses biometrics to log the user in to web
20.02.2017
Samsung’s reputation nosedives in the US after Galaxy Note 7 snafu – The Verge
As usual, it would be great to understand in more detail the methodology behind this survey, but it's not available. The Verge seems to have got the rankings wrong – from what I can tell, Samsung was 7th and not 3rd last year – but it's also worth noting that Samsung's score dropped from 80.44 to 75.17, which sounds a lot less dramatic than dropping from 3rd (or even 7th) to 49th. The fact is that there are a lot of companies clustered together between 75 and 87 points and so a small drop in the score produces a big drop in rankings. Since the survey was also conducted in November and December last year, when the Note7 debacle was still very fresh in people's minds, I'm guessing it would score a lot better just a few months from now. Though the Verge picked up on Samsung's drop as their headline, it's worth noting wher
17.02.2017
Samsung to Use Sony Batteries in Galaxy S8 Phone – WSJ
The fallout from the Note7 recall continues: Samsung is apparently adding another battery supplier to its roster, though Sony's capacity is so small that it will likely be by far the smallest by volume. None of this guarantees anything – the Note7 had problems because both battery suppliers produced faulty batteries and because Samsung's design put pressure on those batteries. Given that those same two suppliers will be making most of the batteries used for the S8, and Samsung of course will still be designing it, what those three companies do differently is far more important than adding another minority battery supplier. As such, I suspect this is probably better read as an attempt by Samsung to exert some pressure on its existing suppliers by demonstrating a willingness to look elsewhere than any sort of strategy to ensure safer batteries in the S8. In that way, this is analogous to Apple's recent move to give Intel some of its iPhone modem business. But all this also highlights t
24.01.2017
Statement from Chairman Elliot F. Kaye: Samsung Galaxy Note7 Recall – CPSC.gov
While Samsung was rightly hammered over its early handling of the Note7 battery issues, since it decided to kick into full gear and issue a full recall, its performance has been far better. This official statement from the chairman of the CPSC, the US body responsible for recalls, praises Samsung and the US wireless carriers for their response and their success rate in getting devices recalled - 97% of devices have now been returned. Taken together with Sunday's announcement of the conclusion of the investigation, which was thorough even if it didn't go far enough on the culture side, this seems like a decent conclusion to the saga. It's worth noting that most of the statement is devoted to complaining about the CPSC's small budget and lack of resources to do its own in-depth investigations.
via CPSC.gov
23.01.2017
Samsung Electronics Announces Fourth Quarter and FY 2016 Results – Samsung
Samsung released preliminary numbers a few days ago, and rather shocked everyone by previewing some of its best results in a long time (and its best operating margin ever). Until today, though, we didn't know the precise breakdown by segment behind those numbers – now we do: the mobile business rebounded decently from last quarter, but is still a shadow of its former self in terms of both revenues and profits, while the semiconductor business is going gangbusters. The latter provided a quarter of revenues but a little over half of operation profits for Samsung Electronics last quarter, and was the major driver of that fantastic overall operating margin. An increasing focus on premium products and rising prices driven by tight supply versus demand both helped that division, while on the mobile side Samsung seems to have done a good job selling Galaxy S7 phones to those who might otherwise have bought a Note7. It looks like Q1 might be a little tough on the mobile side – we won't get
23.01.2017
Samsung Electronics Announces Cause of Galaxy Note7 Incidents in Press Conference – Samsung
See the Techmeme link below for full coverage of the press conference by reporters; the full press conference can be viewed here, with the conference starting around 29:30; and there's some more detail on testing and other elements here. The related narrative has also been updated today to reflect the latest news.
My to-do list for Samsung at this press conference was as follows: demonstrate that the company really had found the root causes of both sets of battery fires, in a way that was credible; where possible have third parties involved; and talk through the changes to manufacturing processes to avoid these issues in future. It checked off each of these items at its press conference, so in that sense it
11.01.2017
FAA to Halt Galaxy Note7 Warnings Thanks to 96% Return Rate – Phone Scoop
We're finally coming to the end of this saga, with one of the most visible and painful reminders of the fate of the Note7 going away. Though the 96% return rate likely is a major factor in the decision, the fact that most Note7 devices remaining now won't charge either thanks to the recent carrier updates is likely another – those who have these phones will find it very hard to do anything dangerous with them. The last remaining chapter in this story is now Samsung's long-awaited disclosure of the root causes for the fires, and its plan for avoiding similar issues in future.
via FAA to Halt Galaxy Note7 Warnings Thanks to 96% Return Rate (Phone Scoop)
05.01.2017
Samsung Electronics forecasts fourth-quarter profit at over three-year high | Reuters
These are remarkable results in the quarter after the Note7 fiasco began, and the quarter in which the recall itself really began. Revenues are very close to last year's, while operating profits are the third highest ever after two quarters back in 2013. We'll have to wait for the final results to come out later this month to see the breakdown, but the Reuters report makes it sound like both smartphones and semiconductors did well, which would be impressive if it's true.
via Samsung Electronics forecasts fourth-quarter profit at over three-year high | Reuters
29.12.2016
Samsung at CES: Ignore that burning Galaxy Note 7 over there – CNET
Shara does a great job here of stating the challenge Samsung faces heading into CES, where it holds the biggest press conference of any exhibitor but tends not to make smartphone announcements. I'm concerned that we still don't have an official explanation for the Note7 fires, which means the story will keep sticking around, and will keep making people – especially those who've never bought one – think twice before buying a Samsung phone.
via Samsung at CES: Ignore that burning Galaxy Note 7 over there - CNET
29.12.2016
Apple and Samsung Missed Holiday Smartphone Sales Opportunities, Say Analysts – WSJ
Much of this piece piggybacks off the Flurry data I linked to earlier, but there are some additional comments from an NPD analyst which form the basis of the headline. The point here is that Samsung did suffer from the Note7 recall, but not nearly as much as it might have, because most buyers stuck with Galaxy phones rather than switching to iPhone. This reinforces the point that Apple and Samsung (in that order) have the highest smartphone loyalty rates by far, which has certainly helped Samsung this year.
via Apple and Samsung Missed Holiday Smartphone Sales Opportunities, Say Analysts - WSJ
27.12.2016
T-Mobile rolls out battery shutdown update to remaining Galaxy Note 7s | AndroidAuthority
This is the beginning of the end for the Note7 saga, which began all the way back in early September. The four major US carriers, starting with T-Mobile, are rolling out what are effectively kill updates that will shut down the remaining Note7 devices in use. Over 90% of those devices have already been turned in, so this is really about capturing the holdouts. This is also the beginning of the end for the PR nightmare that's kept this story in the news far longer than Samsung would have liked.
via T-Mobile rolls out battery shutdown update to remaining Galaxy Note 7s | AndroidAuthority
20.11.2016
Galaxy Note 7 recall did not damage Samsung brand in U.S.: Reuters/Ipsos poll | Reuters
The actual findings here are more complex than the headline suggests – those who had used Samsung devices tended to be relatively unfazed by the recall, while non-users' opinions were swayed more, results that have been borne out by other surveys too. In other words, Samsung shouldn't lose many customers over the recall, but might find it a little harder to win converts.
via Galaxy Note 7 recall did not damage Samsung brand in U.S.: Reuters/Ipsos poll | Reuters
14.10.2016
FAA Bans Note7 From All Flights
The FAA finally banned all Note7 devices in any state from flights, following earlier partial bans, and mandated safety warnings on all US flights which lasted into January 2017.
12.10.2016
Samsung Cuts Q3 Guidance Over Note7
The financial impact of the Note7 debacle began to become clear, as Samsung formally reduced its revenue and profit guidance by several billion dollars (its final results for Q3 would be broadly in line with this guidance).
10.10.2016
Samsung Ends Note7 Sales Worldwide
Samsung finally announced that it would stop selling the Note7 in all countries.
05.10.2016
First Report of Replacement Samsung Note7 Fire
The first report came in of a replacement Note7 – theoretically the safe version – also catching fire, prompting calls for a complete recall.
19.09.2016
Bloomberg Reports Samsung Rushed Note7 Development
Bloomberg reported that a rush to beat the iPhone 7 to market had caused Samsung to shortcut its development process for the Note7, possibly leading to the faults that triggered the fires.
15.09.2016
Samsung Issues Partial Formal US Note7 Recall
Samsung issued a partial formal recall through the US CPSC which lacked the force of a full recall, and focused only on the first-generation devices with the supposedly faulty battery.
02.09.2016
Samsung Note7 Sales Suspended + Informal Recall
Samsung suspended sales of first-generation Note devices and issued an informal recall, while promising that replacement devices with different batteries would be available very soon.
24.08.2016
First Reports of Samsung Galaxy Note7 Fires
Reports began to trickle in about fires caused by the Galaxy Note7, and eventually the trickle turned into a steady stream, with dozens of cases reported in the US alone over the space of a couple of weeks.
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 was very well reviewed when it launched, and some reviewers argued it was the best available smartphone. However, within weeks of the launch, it became clear that the device had a major battery issue which caused fires, and Samsung began recalling what it thought was a subset of devices affected by the flaw. It then became clear that even devices thought safe might suffer from the flaw, and Samsung eventually recalled all Note 7 devices and stopped selling the phone entirely. The recall caused a significant shortfall in revenue and large losses in Q3 2016, with some spillover into Q4.
Many have assumed the Note7 recall would badly damage Samsung’s reputation, but all the surveys I’ve seen suggest the impact is fairly muted. Notably, those surveys suggest existing Samsung device owners’ perceptions of the brand and the quality of its products were relatively unaffected, while it was those with little personal exposure to Samsung products whose opinions were more likely to be affected. In other words, the recall shouldn’t affect repeat sales to existing customers, but might hamper efforts to sell to new customers. Having said that, early reports of Q4 2016 sales overall seem to indicate Samsung had a great quarter.
Samsung has been rightly criticized over the handling of the recall, which played into a broader narrative about its customer service, which has been poor in other circumstances too. It was slow to issue a recall and then didn’t work with the US CPSC at first either. It did come around eventually, however, and seems to have acted much more appropriately since then. However, given that Samsung still hasn’t announced the reason for the fires, concerns over future products are likely to linger until there’s a satisfactory explanation. Certainly, the Note7 recall was a cloud that hung over Samsung’s CES announcements.
On January 23, 2017, Samsung finally released the findings of its detailed investigation into the battery fires. My to-do list for Samsung at this press conference was as follows: demonstrate that the company really had found the root causes of both sets of battery fires, in a way that was credible; where possible have third parties involved; and talk through the changes to manufacturing processes to avoid these issues in future. It and its third party investigators (UL, Exponent, and TUVRheinland) did a good job of talking through all this at its press conference. Samsung certainly went into enough depth and with enough credibility to convince me that it really has uncovered the root and proximate causes of the battery fires in a way that should enable it to avoid the issues in future.
But the press conference also highlighted a couple of other things: firstly, that there were basic and serious flaws in the manufacturing process for Manufacturer B’s batteries (with most reporters saying this is ATL of China); and secondly, that it was partly Samsung’s design for the phone as a whole which put pressure on the batteries from both manufacturers. In other words, the findings lay blame at Samsung’s door in at least two ways: a lack of quality control around third party components, and poor design choices that prioritized thinness over safety. The fact that third party investigators were able to spot the very consistent defects in both sets of batteries, but Samsung wasn’t, also suggests a lack of quality control both before and after the issues emerged. My worry is that, even though Samsung will now undoubtedly change its processes for testing and design, Samsung’s culture was a root cause too, and it’s not at all clear that this will change in the same way or to the same extent.