Samsung Market Cap Tanks By $22 Billion As 70 Cases Of Galaxy Note 7 Fires Reported In U.S.
After making a series of moves to restructure its mobile business and renew interest in its Galaxy handset line, the situation with the recently released Galaxy Note 7 is taking quite a toll on Samsung. The South Korean electronics firm saw its market capitalization plummet by $22 billion over the past two days, a direct result of the global recall of Galaxy Note 7 devices that are prone to overheat and catch fire.
This is just a bad situation all around. For consumers, the risk of a Galaxy Note 7 device exploding is a scary thing, especially with the influx of reports detailing various damage caused by affected handsets. In just the past couple of weeks, overheating Galaxy Note 7 devices have made headlines for causing $1,400 worth of damage in a hotel, setting a Jeep Grand Cherokee on fire, and burning a young boy's hands.
There have been over 70 reports in the U.S. along of the Galaxy Note 7 overheating due to a defective battery, the Canadian government revealed. That's twice as many as Samsung previously reported on a worldwide basis—on September 1, Samsung said it received 35 complaints in all of malfunctioning batteries in the Galaxy Note 7.
The Canadian government's safety association, Health Canada, is working with Samsung in its recall of Galaxy Note 7 devices. Nearly 22,000 of the recalled smartphones were sold in Canada, the agency said. Interestingly, Health Canada and Samsung Canada have received just one report of a phone battery overheating.
Early estimates had Samsung taking a $1 billion hit as a result of the recall, but its falling share price suggests that things could be much worse. The situation is damaging to its brand, both from a consumer standpoint and on the part of investors.
Bryan Ma, vice president of devices research for IDC, told Bloomberg that it's a "nightmare" situation for Samsung that keeps getting "worse and worse." Ma also mentioned the possibility of airlines banning all Samsung phones, not just the Galaxy Note 7, as it's difficult to tell some of the models apart. If that happens, "the Note 7 could end up dragging down the rest of the portfolio."
That's perhaps jumping the gun a bit, though if Samsung wants to avoid such a scenario, it needs to get a handle on the recall and move on from this as quickly as it can.
This is just a bad situation all around. For consumers, the risk of a Galaxy Note 7 device exploding is a scary thing, especially with the influx of reports detailing various damage caused by affected handsets. In just the past couple of weeks, overheating Galaxy Note 7 devices have made headlines for causing $1,400 worth of damage in a hotel, setting a Jeep Grand Cherokee on fire, and burning a young boy's hands.
There have been over 70 reports in the U.S. along of the Galaxy Note 7 overheating due to a defective battery, the Canadian government revealed. That's twice as many as Samsung previously reported on a worldwide basis—on September 1, Samsung said it received 35 complaints in all of malfunctioning batteries in the Galaxy Note 7.
The Canadian government's safety association, Health Canada, is working with Samsung in its recall of Galaxy Note 7 devices. Nearly 22,000 of the recalled smartphones were sold in Canada, the agency said. Interestingly, Health Canada and Samsung Canada have received just one report of a phone battery overheating.
Early estimates had Samsung taking a $1 billion hit as a result of the recall, but its falling share price suggests that things could be much worse. The situation is damaging to its brand, both from a consumer standpoint and on the part of investors.
Bryan Ma, vice president of devices research for IDC, told Bloomberg that it's a "nightmare" situation for Samsung that keeps getting "worse and worse." Ma also mentioned the possibility of airlines banning all Samsung phones, not just the Galaxy Note 7, as it's difficult to tell some of the models apart. If that happens, "the Note 7 could end up dragging down the rest of the portfolio."
That's perhaps jumping the gun a bit, though if Samsung wants to avoid such a scenario, it needs to get a handle on the recall and move on from this as quickly as it can.
