Samsung apologizes for the Note7 fiasco the old-fashioned way
Samsung has apologized to customers for the discontinuation of its Note7 smartphone with full-page ads in Monday's paper editions of three major U.S. newspapers: The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
In the text, Samsung promises to carry out a "careful" investigation into the causes of Note7's battery issues, which overheated and burst into flames in several dozen recorded cases before the phone was discontinued.
"At Samsung, we innovate to deliver breakthrough technologies that enrich people's lives. An important tenet of our mission is to offer best-in-class safety and quality. Recently, we fell short on this promise. For this we are truly sorry," Gregory Lee, the president and CEO of Samsung North America, wrote in the statement.
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The important bit of info from the text is the part where Samsung pledges to share the findings of its investigation with the public. So far, statements from the company as to the true cause of Note7's problems were somewhat vague.
"We will re-examine every aspect of the device, including all hardware, software, manufacturing and the overall battery structure. We will move as quickly as possible, but will take the time needed to get the right answers," Lee wrote.
The phrasing indicates that Samsung never truly figured out what had caused Note7's battery issues. Initially, Samsung pinpointed the problem to the battery itself, pulling devices with a particular battery type from the market in September and offering buyers the model with a slightly different battery as replacement.
But after replacement devices started bursting into flames as well, it became apparent that the problem is more complex than that.
Samsung really does need does answers fast; the company has already announced its next-gen flagship, the Galaxy S8, which will come with a new digital assistant.
An official launch date has not been announced yet, but new Galaxy S devices are traditionally launched at or around the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which takes place in late Feb. or early March.
The apology bundles up another painful Samsung recall, that of its top-load washing machines, affecting 34 models sold between March 2011 and November 2016. 2.8 million units were recalled after reports that 730 units have had their tops blow off, leading to nine injuries.
Topics Samsung
Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.
