Tuesday, 20 Sep 2016

Samsung Tried Too Hard

Bloomberg Technology takes a look at Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 battery problems and how it happened. It appears in their rush to beat Apple to market they took a few too many shortcuts.

The chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission was more explicit when his agency announced an official recall on Thursday. He said the phone’s battery was slightly too big for its compartment and the tight space pinched the battery, causing a short circuit. “Clearly, they missed something,” said Anthea Lai, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. “They were rushing to beat Apple and they made a mistake.”

This all came about because they underestimated the impact the new iPhone 7 would have. Their assumption was that it would not be a big hit because it was too similar to the iPhone 6S. Based on recent years, they should know by now not to underestimate the power of the iPhone brand.

Apple’s iPhone 7 also wasn’t as uninspiring as Samsung may have anticipated. Though it kept the same physical design with modest technology changes, loyalists still lined up at stores around the world on Friday to get the company’s latest gadget.

Just five days into launch and the iPhone 7 looks set to break new sales records.