Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is finally rolling out the refurbished version of Galaxy Note 7 beginning 7 July. The release will start off in its country South Korea and is expected to become available in other markets.
The refurbished Galaxy Note 7, now called the Galaxy Note 7 Fan Edition, are the units recalled last year when hundreds of its prototypes exploded due to the batteries. Each unit costs US$611, this is about 30 percent lower than the original Galaxy Note 7's launch price.
In a press statement issued by Samsung, around 400,000 units will be available in South Korea. These new units carry batteries with lower capacity than the original ones. Samsung assured that the Galaxy Note 7 Fan Edition units have passed the new safety measures implemented after the recall.
Two months after Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 7 in August 2016, a spate of consumer complaints bombarded the company due fire-catching batteries of the device. The firm was forced to stop sales of the device and was forced to recall released units. Later, Samsung and independent firms found out that the batteries of the device, which were produced by partner suppliers, were solely accountable for the damage.
Samsung had reported a loss of more than US$5 billion. After such reputation damaging instance, the South Korean manufacturer was able to pick itself up with the release of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus in April.
Meanwhile, Samsung is looking into the relaunch of the refurbished Galaxy Note 7s in other markets outside South Korea at a later date. In its previous statement, however, Samsung said it has no plans to bring the new versions of the device in the US and India.
On another news, Samsung is slated to launch the next-generation Galaxy Note 8 in the second half of August. It carries a battery with lower capacity than the original Galaxy Note 7.
