Samsung Electronics took out out full-page newspaper advertisements in the US to apologise for its fire-prone Galaxy Note7 phones, seeking to restore its battered reputation.
The message from the world’s largest smartphone maker appeared in major publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post and USA Today this week. A representative for the Suwon, Korea-based company said it hasn’t decided whether to run more ads in other places.
“At Samsung, we innovate to deliver breakthrough technologies that enrich people’s lives,” Gregory Lee, president of Samsung Electronics North America, wrote in the note to customers. “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.”
The Note7, which debuted in August, was killed off in October after some of the devices caught fire or exploded, forcing the company to issue recalls and issue refunds to customers.
Samsung, the maker of Galaxy smartphones, is facing tougher competition in the US market, the home turf of its biggest rival Apple, as well as in China where local manufacturers are gaining share with more affordable devices. Samsung said on 5 November that about 85% of its recalled Galaxy Note7 smartphones in the US have been replaced.
“We will listen to you, learn from this and act in a way that allows us to earn back your trust,” Lee wrote.
Samsung has also promised to disclose the reasons for the Note7’s failure. “A careful Note7 investigation is underway and the findings will be shared when the analysis is complete. The process will be thorough and include some of the best independent technical experts in the world to help inform and validate our work.”
Samsung is also working on its next flagship Galaxy S8 phone with a voice-enabled digital assistant. — (c) 2016 Bloomberg LP
