Samsung scraps Note7, no India launch

There’s bad news for those waiting eagerly for the Note7 to be launched in India. In line with its decision to permanently discontinue the production of the flagship device, which has been mired in a disastrous recall over exploding batteries, Samsung will not launch it in India as well.

The company, which sold 2.5 million units globally before announcing the recall on September 2, “is expected to either pay back consumers who had pre-ordered the phone or provide them with a S7 or a S7 Edge smartphone with premium offers,” a company source said.

“Even after the recall, 98% of consumers still stayed back with us expecting the phone to come to India. However, in the interest of consumers’ safety, Samsung will not launch the phone in India anymore — a decision in line with the global announcement of stopping the production of the smartphone,” the source added.

The Note7 is priced at ₹59,990 for the base model. The S7 and S7 Edge costs ₹36,999 and ₹44,200, respectively.

According to analysts, not launching the Note7 in India will burn a big hole in Samsung’s pocket. “Samsung is likely to see a 22% to 25% loss in sales in the premium segment,” said Tarun Pathak, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research. “Nearly 90% of the estimated losses will go into Apple sales.”

Apple last week launched the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus in India for ₹60,000 and ₹72,000, respectively.

The premium segment accounts for 17-20% of India’s almost ₹1.2-lakh-crore smartphone market.

“Apple and Samsung own nearly 96% market share in the premium segment in India. Some of the Note7 market share will also move to Google’s Pixel that will be up for pre-order from October 13,” Pathak added.