Abstract

Samsung, the world’s leading Smartphone maker, launched its most awaited Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, in 10 major markets, including the US and South Korea in August 2016. Within a week of its launch, there were incidents of Note 7s catching fire. Koh, the president of Samsung’s mobile business announced a recall and replacement of Note 7. But the replaced Notes also caught fire. The company had to announce a second recall and abandon the production of Note 7. With holiday season fast approaching Samsung had to come up with a strategy to retain its loyal customers. Also its competitor Apple had just launched iPhone 7 and Google launched its first smartphone – Google Pixel. The company had to also work on rebuilding its lost brand value and instill confidence in the customers, which was essential for Samsung to retain its position in the smartphone market. The case study challenges the students to discuss the problems facing Samsung and what should Koh’s short term and long term strategy be.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Apply how to deal with crisis and manage the emergency situation effectively.
• Understand the ways a company can communicate and effectively retain its customer’s loyalty.
• Understand the importance of quality control checks.
• Evaluate the short term and long term impact on the brand’s market share.
• Evaluate the impact on the smartphone business where customers shift to a new ecosystem itself.

Keywords

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Federal Aviation Authority (FAA),Dongjin Koh,Apple iPhone 7, Samsung Galaxy Note 7, Google Pixel, Catching Fire, Product specifications, Lithium-ion batteries, Product replacement, Ecosystem, Crisis