AT&T is the only carrier in the United States which is yet to put the new and safe Galaxy Note 7 units back on sale. The three other major carriers — T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon — started selling safe Note 7 units since late September or early October.
AT&T, however, wants to take things to the next level and is reportedly “considering” not putting the device back on sale at all. The carrier is planning on taking this decision after even a safe Note 7 unit exploding in a Southwest Airlines.
All the four carriers have started offering concerned customers with the option to return their safe Note 7 unit and exchange it with a different device.
All the four major carriers had already stopped selling the faulty Note 7 units in the United States in early September and started a replacement program for the units it had already sold in the third week of September. It was only after the carriers replaced the majority of the faulty Note 7 units sold that they put the device back on sale for new customers.
Samsung has already issued a statement on this matter in a bid to calm down concerned Note 7 customers.
Samsung understands the concern our carriers and consumers must be feeling after recent reports have raised questions about our newly released replacement Note7 devices.
We continue to move quickly to investigate the reported case to determine the cause and will share findings as soon as possible.
We remain in close contact with the CPSC throughout this process.
If we conclude a safety issue exists, we will work with the CPSC to take immediate steps to address the situation.
We want to reassure our customers that we take every report seriously and we appreciate their patience as we work diligently through this process.”
If AT&T and other carriers end up deciding not to sell the Galaxy Note 7 again, it could be a huge blow to Samsung’s goodwill and bottom line.
At this point, the Galaxy Note 7 despite being one of the best Android smartphones of this year, has had its image marred in the eyes of the public and Samsung should try and do whatever it can to salvage its reputation and goodwill.
[Via Bloomberg]