Samsung's 'Short-Term" Issues From Note7 'Fiasco' Won't Hurt Future Prospects, Says IDC

Samsung faces some “short-term challenges” after the recall of the Note7 “but nothing that will darken its long-term prospects,” according to an IDC consumer survey conducted Oct. 17-18 with 1,082 U.S. consumers. Survey respondents included 507 current Samsung smartphone owners, 347 past Samsung smartphone owners and 228 smartphone owners who never owned the Samsung brand, said IDC in a news release. Only 24 Note7 customers were part of the survey due to the limited installed base, it said. Survey results show “most consumers are unaffected" by the recall, which analyst Ramon Llamas called “good news for Samsung.” A minority of Samsung owners said they're unlikely to buy a Samsung smartphone in the future, and the company will have to win back those customers' trust, Llamas said. Samsung offered monetary incentives, but most consumers “want to learn the root causes of the problem and how Samsung intends to fix them,” he said. Half of the two dozen Note7 owners polled said they have or will choose an Apple iPhone to replace their recalled phone, and 17 percent said they would choose another Samsung phone, said IDC. Most chose to return their phone through a carrier's physical store, it said. The recall “doesn't appear to be harming the broader Samsung brand so far,” said IDC, with the majority of respondents saying the event won't affect decisions to buy other, non-smartphone Samsung products such as televisions and appliances. Survey participants’ view of Samsung’s response to the Note7 recall was mostly “neutral to positive,” said IDC, with 13 percent not even aware of the recall when polled. "The Note7 recall along with all its repercussions, represents a significant event in the world of consumer electronics," said IDC analyst Anthony Scarsella. The recall may hurt the Samsung brand short term, but “the truth is that Samsung remains the clear market leader in the worldwide smartphone market,” Scarsella said. Moving forward, Samsung will need to “put the Note7 to rest as quickly as possible and focus all efforts on producing a stellar Galaxy S8 come next spring,” he said. If the S8 delivers “on all fronts,” consumers will quickly forget the Note7 fiasco.”