Leaning on an expansive lineup of affordable Android handsets, Samsung retained its spot as the world's top smartphone vendor for the third quarter of 2016, according to research firm IDC. However, premium phone makers — Apple and Samsung included — are being squeezed from the bottom, as manufacturers of cheaper Android alternatives gained ground.
As expected, the Galaxy Note 7 disaster set fire to Samsung's operating profits in the September quarter, with the company's mobile unit posting a 96 percent decline to 100 billion Korean won (about $87.9 million) as compared to the same time last year.
As part of the continuing Galaxy Note 7 fire debacle, Samsung is not only offering financial incentives for customers to trade their problematic phone for a Galaxy S 7 phone and stay in the Samsung ecosystem in the face of pressure from the iPhone 7, but it is also saying that customers in the country will be able to exchange a Galaxy S 7 for the forthcoming Galaxy Note 8 for half the normal price.
Samsung is set to face multiple South Korean lawsuits over the Galaxy Note 7, amid reports that it's still looking to track down the cause of battery fires, and offering Koreans discounted upgrades to next year's flagship phones — including the Note 8.
In terms of customer satisfaction Apple is the most popular smartphone brand among U.S. carrier subscribers, according to two new J.D. Power studies, though that position isn't absolute.
Samsung is now running exchange stations at airports around the world, hoping to catch any lingering Galaxy Note 7 owners before they get onboard a plane with the phone — something that's now prohibited or outright illegal in some instances.
On Friday several U.S. safety agencies banned the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 from flights, all but killing the usefulness of the smartphone for the few people willing to hold onto it in spite of fire risks.
As a result of having to recall and eventually kill off the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung on Friday predicted a further $3 billion reduction in operating profits through March 2017, beyond the $2.3 billion it already announced.
Looking to soften some of the damage to its brand, Samsung is extending an extra $100 in credit to U.S. Galaxy Note 7 owners willing to exchange the phone for another Samsung device.
The Galaxy Note 7 botched recall was apparently induced as a result of corporate secrecy plus a lack of communication between test engineers — and the company still can't reproduce the fires in the testing labs.
Samsung Electronics on Wednesday cut its third-quarter operating profit estimates by $2.3 billion, suggesting the amount of damage done by ending production of the Galaxy Note 7.
New supply chain reports suggest that the global smartphone market will expand 7 percent in both 2016 and 2017, with Apple both the only US-based company on the list, and closing the gap with Samsung.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday published a transcript of the day's initial oral hearing of the high-stakes patent battle between Apple and Samsung, highlighting the complexities that face justices on how to properly adjudicate the case.
In hearing oral arguments from Apple and Samsung, justices for the U.S. Supreme Court hinted at some willingness to consider Samsung's position as it fights for reduced damages in a case over infringed iPhone design patents.
While investment firm Wells Fargo Securities believes Apple and its newly released iPhone 7 Plus will benefit from the discontinuation of the dangerous Galaxy Note 7, it also believes that the greatest potential for gains could be non-Samsung Android handsets.
A day after Samsung issued two statements declaring that it was "adjusting production" of the troubled Galaxy Note 7 to respond to complaints and fires, the company announced on Tuesday that it has "consequently decided to stop production" — but the consequences of the entire debacle may extend for some time.
Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 is in the throes of death. The Korean tech giant on Monday halted global sales of its latest phablet phone, issuing a statement telling owners to power down and stop using the handset as it could pose a safety hazard.
Samsung, in conjunction with Harman Kardon, has quietly revealed the new cylindrical consumer-grade ArtPC Pulse line powered by the sixth generation Skylake processor, which has already begun to draw many comparisons to Apple's 2013 Mac Pro design.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 situation continues to worsen, as two more replacement phones have lit on fire — and communications from Samsung to afflicted customers trying to return their devices and the general public about the issue is compounding the problem.
In its first case over design patents in some 120 years, the U.S. Supreme Court will tackle the outcome of the biggest Apple v. Samsung lawsuit on Tuesday, as Samsung looks to reduce the scope of damages owed.
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Mikey Campbell
Mike Wuerthele
Roger Fingas
Neil Hughes
