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Samsung Electronics’ decision to recall its latest flagship smartphone Galaxy Note7 globally will not impact its brand image in India, said analysts tracking the industry.
The company had launched its flagship model with much hype globally and the product was to be made available in the market on September 2.
Sources from the company told BusinessLine that it will take some time to dispatch the Galaxy Note7 into the market, as it was proactively working to check quality issues of the battery cell. For Indian consumers, the handsets were being manufactured in Samsung’s facility in Noida, but the company had to delay its dispatch for quality check of all handsets again before dispatching them to the stores, they said.
“We acknowledge the inconvenience this may cause in the market but this is to ensure that Samsung continues to deliver the highest quality products,” said a spokesperson at Samsung India in a company release. As of September 1, there had been 35 cases of batteries “exploding” reported globally and Samsung India is currently conducting a thorough inspection with suppliers to identify possibly-affected batteries.
“Because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have delayed sales of the Galaxy Note7 in India,” the spokesperson said.
According to analysts, there will not be any immediate impact. “Consumers are concerned about companies that do not react and don’t take responsibility. Such incidents are not new. It (the recall) doesn’t seem to be a concern to consumers.” said Harish Bijoor, a brand expert. Also, such a phenomenon is very common in the automobile industry and people do react for sometime, but there is not much dent to a brand, an expert pointed out.
“It is about the ethics of doing business and a couple of recalls do not impact a brand much. The company could have said it’s an isolated case and gotten away, but it showed responsibility,” said Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Analyst (Telecoms), at CyberMedia Research.
Having said that, Kawoosa added that there might be a little impact, because the Galaxy Note7 was a potential competitor to the ‘iPhone 7’, which is set for release soon.
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