SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7 DEBACLE

NAME ROLL NO
ANIKET SRIVASTAVA 180101012
ISHAAN MITTAL 180101038
SIDDHANT MARWAH 180101100
SHIVAM MITTAL 180101093
SREERAM K 180101106
SREEJITH M NAIR 180101105

Q1. Analyze the timeline of key events during recall crisis of Galaxy Note 7

TIME LINE ANALYSIS OF SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7 DEBACLE in 2016

Aug 2 Unveiling of Galaxy Note 7 In New York.

Received rave reviews and was considered better than Apple
iPhone by many reviewers.

Aug 19 Note 7 starts selling in 10 markets including USA and South Korea

Aug 24 First report of an explosion.

Location: South Korea

Aug 31 to Samsung delays shipment to South Korean Carriers

Sep 2 Sales open in China
Then, Samsung announces global recall of 2.5 million Note 7s
Sep 8 The Federal Aviation Administration of the US advises not to
to switch on Note 7 on airplanes.
Sep 19 US Consumer Product Safety Commission urges people to stop
using their phone
US Consumer Product Safety Commission announces recall of 1
million Note 7s
US consumer files a law suit against Samsung due to burns
sustained on account of phone explosion
Samsung says battery overheating causing the issue
Samsung initiates exchange program in South Korea

Sep 21 Verizon and Sprint start taking orders of new Note 7s

to
Sep 29 Korean agency for Technology and Standards orders
Samsung to conduct extra battery safety measures for
Note 7

Samsung postpones re-instating Note 7 by 3 days in

South Korea

Samsung claims that now 1 million people are using

Note 7 with a safe battery

Oct 1 Samsung resumes selling Note 7s in South Korea

to
Oct 9 A Southwest airline evacuated due to smoke from Note
7 on board

AT&T and T-Mobile stop issuing Note 7s due to safety

concerns

Samsung announces delay of Note 7 shipments due

more phones catching fire. It says it will do more
inspection and quality control
 Oct 10 Samsung halts sales and production of Note 7

It asks customers to stop using phones

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 opened to raving reviews and a greater than expected
demand. However, a battery flaw led to one of the greatest disasters for the
company. It had to recall 2.5 million units.

Samsung’s pre-emptive strategy and recall measures were positively received.

Samsung had hoped that such measures would sustain goodwill and loyalty
among customers and media. Despite these measures, Samsung should have
investigated the causes of failure of Note 7 further before re-instating the
product so early. The further incidents highly tarnished the brand’s image
which led to competition’s market share increasing as well as new entrants
establishing themselves in the highly competitive industry.

Q2. Identify the key stakeholders of Samsung. Which stakeholders were

catered during the recall?

Key stakeholders

1. Koh Dong-Jih – Samsun’s mobile division chief

2. Lee Jae Young – Vice chairman of Samsung, Firm’s De facto head
3. Investors like Elliott Management Corp
4. Suppliers of parts
5. Customers
6. Explosion victims
7. Retailers and channel partners
8. Other partners
9. Airlines
 10. Media
11. Mobile operators
12. United states Consumer Product Safety Commission

The stake holders who were catered during the recall were mainly the victims of the
explosion and the customers who bought Galaxy Note 7. The channel partners
helped them to replace the defective handset with new ones. Press releases were
released through media which spread the word to reduce further causalities. United
states Consumer Product Safety Commission was one key stake holder whom they
missed out.

As a part of recall, Samsung apologized to customers, mobile operators, channel

partners and business partners.

Q3. What other communication strategies could have been implemented

during the recall.
 Apprising the customer of the issues of exploding and overheating on all mediums
like TV & Radio etc.
 Directly and openly apologizing to the customer i.e. taking the full ownership for the
same.
 Apprising the customer of the new when they come to purchase a new phone and
making the exchange then and their itself, while transferring their phone data
securely.
 Checking the existing repository to reach out the customers via phone or mail or
SMS, to make them aware of the issues.
 Some sort of advertisement to make them aware of the issue, simultaneously telling
them of an offer in exchange.
 Unique identification of the Mobile phones which are being returned due to this
issue.
 Appropriate manpower to be put in place to handle such a high scale recall.
 Giving the customers an access of Online software where they can key in their
Mobile unique ID number and check if their battery is affected or not.
 A toll free helpline to address the issue.
 A proper shipping facility to be put in place to handle the exchange, like Nokia did
when they faced a similar problem.
 The 5 month time frame to figure out the issue and issue the recall made the
company loose the sheen, thus a faster response mechanism would have helped
them control the damage.
 Introducing a much better scheme on the new phones whose Samsung Galaxy Note
7 were affected so as to retain the brand chasm.
 Being careful in their approach to customers of assuring them of quality of the
device without doing proper testing.
 The new Galaxy 7 should not have been launched since there were prior issues going
on with the set.
 Social Media should have been used to spread the word.

4. What should Samsung do now and in future?

 Better quality management system which checks the quality at each level of
manufacturing .
 Better R&D and testing of devices before it reaches to customer.
 Through Ads , Connect emotionally with customers . Show them that Samsung have
learnt from their mistake and have taken utmost care to provide the best quality
 For S8 , bring innovation to show that it is unlike the previous phones . Show visually
appealing videos in Ads . Design innovation can help to a large extend as the
previous Samsung phones are all similar in designs
 Also S and Note product lines should be positioned separately