With yesterday’s extensive press conference, it looked like the story of the Samsung Note had come to an end. However, comments by Samsung’s DJ Koh have indicated the company plans to maintain the brand with at least one more iteration.
“I will bring back a better, safer and very innovative Note 8,” Koh pledged.
There are “lots and lots of loyal customers,” he said.
It’s those loyal customers that drove up both Samsung’s stock prices and caused the Note 7 to sell out at launch.
Still, it’s a move that may surprise some given the scope of the Note 7’s failure.
During the press conference, the findings of four separate investigations into the causes of the Note 7’s fatal battery flaw were revealed.
Samsung says two different battery flaws were to blame for the fires that plagued its flagship Galaxy Note7 smartphone leading to two separate recalls and, ultimately, the permanent withdrawal of the model from the market.
However, some experts say that Samsung’s drive to achieve both thinner phones and longer battery life without caveats may have contributed to the problem.
How these findings will shape the design of the company’s next generation of phones and tablets remains to be seen.
The only thing that’s certain is that the next Note-branded phablet is likely to have some of the best consumer protections against self-combustion the market has ever seen.