Samsung offer incentives to cushion Note 7 blow

Samsung Electronics on Thursday offered financial incentives for customers in South Korea who exchange Galaxy Note 7 smartphones for other Samsung models, as it scrambles to shore up its reputation in the wake of a damaging safety crisis. The South Korean giant is in damage-control mode as rivals like Apple Inc and LG Electronics try […]

Samsung Electronics on Thursday offered financial incentives for customers in South Korea who exchange Galaxy Note 7 smartphones for other Samsung models, as it scrambles to shore up its reputation in the wake of a damaging safety crisis.

The South Korean giant is in damage-control mode as rivals like Apple Inc and LG Electronics try to steal market share from the global smartphone leader after it was forced to scrap its latest flagship device.

Samsung is boosting its marketing and promotional efforts around other Galaxy-series smartphones to cushion the blow from the demise of the premium Note 7, which it finally abandoned this week after failing to resolve overheating problems which caused some of the phones to ignite.

“Industry experience, such as the decline of Nokia and BlackBerry, shows how successful manufacturers can lose market share particularly quickly in the handset business,” Fitch ratings agency said in a report.

In the United States, Samsung began sending fireproof boxes and protective gloves to customers returning potentially explosive Note 7s, drawing humorous barbs from social media commentators.

In its home market, it started to offer refunds or exchanges for other products.

Customers who returned their Note 7s, priced at about $880, were offered a coupon worth 30,000 won ($26.91), while those who chose an exchange for another high-end Samsung phone were promised an additional 70,000 won mobile credit.

The incentives would compensate consumers for their “big inconvenience”, Samsung said in a statement.