Beleaguered Samsung struggles to put out the fires caused by their exploding phones
“Heated meetings, sacrificed holidays and teams monitoring social media round-the-clock to track whether there have been any new smartphone fires: Samsung Electronics is still desperately trying to limit the damage of a record global recall announced more than a month ago,” Se Young Lee reports for Reuters. “Samsung’s hopes of finally getting ahead of the crisis took a knock on Wednesday. A replacement model began smoking inside a U.S. plane on Wednesday, the family that owns it said, prompting fresh investigations by safety regulators.”
“Some of the toughest criticism leveled at Samsung has been over its fumbling of the recall,” Lee reports. “It warned affected users to immediately turn off their phones only after the same warning was issued by the U.S. consumer protection agency. The regulator criticized Samsung for not following proper recall procedures. Some consumers also complained about the replacement phones, either saying they lose power too quickly or run too hot.”
“Samsung employees say the recall has dominated internal meetings since the Sept. 2 announcement, whether it be efforts to get the recalled phones off the streets or deal with a continued stream of claims and reports of damages or problems,” Lee reports. “Missed sales and recall expenses could cost Samsung nearly $5 billion this year, analysts say. The risk to its brand is as yet unquantifiable.”
