Turnaround · South Korea · 2016–2017
Samsung Galaxy Note 7: recalling a flagship twice
Samsung's Note 7 batteries caught fire, and so did the replacements. Samsung killed the phone at a cost of about $5 billion, published the root causes, and introduced an eight-point battery check.
By Shivam Bhandari · Reviewed 31 October 2026 · How we write
by the numbers
- Phones in first recall
- about 2.5 million
- Discontinued
- October 2016
- Estimated cost
- about $5 billion
- New battery checks
- 8-point safety process
What happened
Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 7 in August 2016 to strong reviews, aiming to beat Apple's next iPhone. Within weeks, reports emerged of phones overheating and catching fire. Samsung announced a recall of about 2.5 million phones in early September.
Some replacement phones then caught fire too, including one on a plane. Airlines banned the device, and in October Samsung permanently discontinued the Note 7. The total cost was estimated at about $5 billion in lost profit, plus brand damage.
In January 2017 Samsung published the findings of its investigation: two different battery design and manufacturing defects. It introduced an eight-point battery safety check and a new oversight group. The Galaxy S8, launched in spring 2017, sold strongly and the brand recovered.
Timeline
- 2016
Launch (August); recall (September); discontinued (October).
- 2017
Root causes published (January); Galaxy S8 launches.
what made it work
- Rushed timeline to beat a competitor's launch.
- First fix was made before the cause was fully understood.
- Transparent root-cause report helped rebuild trust.
the lesson
Rushing to fix a problem before understanding its cause can double the damage; transparency about the real cause helps recovery.
Apply it to your business
- 1Don't let a competitor's deadline override quality checks.
- 2Find the root cause before rolling out a fix.
- 3Publish what went wrong and what you changed.
Laws at work in this story
Figures are rounded and drawn from public reports, company filings and widely cited coverage at the time. Check the company's latest filings before relying on any number.