Galaxy Note 7 Battery Crisis: Caused by Desire to Beat Apple and Ineffective Management

[Centurius]

 

We all know what happened with the Note 7 release, but now we also have some indication why. When early this year Samsung learned of rumours that the upcoming iPhone 7 would be a fairly dull release with very little changes the decision was made that Samsung needed to beat them to release once and for all so the jabs that they were simply copycats would end for good. To do this the Note 7 would need to add several new technologies and perhaps more importantly be completed even sooner than previous releases. 
 

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Earlier this year, managers at the South Korean company began hearing the next iPhone wouldn’t have any eye-popping innovations. The device would look just like the previous two models too. It sounded like a potential opening for Samsung to leap ahead.

So the top brass at Samsung Electronics Co., including phone chief D.J. Koh, decided to accelerate the launch of a new phone they were confident would dazzle consumers and capitalize on the opportunity, according to people familiar with the matter. They pushed suppliers to meet tighter deadlines, despite loads of new features, another person with direct knowledge said. The Note 7 would have a high-resolution screen that wraps around the edges, iris-recognition security and a more powerful, faster-charging battery. Apple’s taunts that Samsung was a copycat would be silenced for good.

 

They went ahead with a slew of new features that had been on the company’s product road map, including an improved screen and stylus -- and then approved a launch date 10 days earlier than last year, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. Samsung’s unveiling was Aug. 3 this year, compared with Aug. 13 last year.

 

While Samsung doesn't outright confirm that they pushed up deadlines, they didn't outright refute the claim either(as was to be expected).

 

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Samsung declined to comment specifically on whether it moved up the Note 7 launch because of its perception of the iPhone. “Timing of any new mobile product launch is determined by the Mobile business division based on the proper completion of the development process and the readiness of the product for the market,” the company said in a statement.

The issue comes at the worst time for Samsung as it suffers from lack of effective management, most notably a lack of a single person to tell the company where to go in the wake of the Chairman of Samsung Group. Lee Kun-hee, suffering from a heart attack and due to Korean customs his son being unable to assume the title.

 

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The misstep has set off soul-searching at the Samsung conglomerate and in South Korea, where the company employs hundreds of thousands and is revered for leading the nation’s rise since the Korean War. Samsung’s flagship electronics unit built its reputation on high-quality products and cutting-edge technology, becoming the largest phone maker in the world and a powerful rival to Apple in innovation. One employee, in an online discussion group, called the episode "humiliating."
The crisis is straining a management team that’s been without clear leadership for more than two years. Lee Kun-Hee, the Samsung patriarch who is chairman of both the electronics unit and the broader conglomerate, suffered a heart attack in 2014 and hasn’t been back to the business since. His son, Jay Y. Lee, is heir apparent, but hasn’t taken his father’s title because Korean culture precludes such a move while the elder Lee is alive. The result is that no one appears to have the kind of authority that, say, Tim Cook wields at Apple to take responsibility and hammer out solutions.
“The battery issue arrived at the worst moment for Samsung and it seems like there was a delay in reacting to this communication crisis,” said Thomas Husson, an analyst at Forrester Research. “This may indeed be due to the change in top management.”

 

The tumult has raised questions about whether Samsung’s current management approach is sufficiently robust to handle the crisis fallout. In the wake of the recall, Samsung said it had nominated the younger Lee to join the company’s nine-member board, a move that will give him a more active, and legitimate, role across its businesses. However, the younger Lee, who has kept a low profile inside and outside the company, is still far from having the kind of direct authority his father had. In addition to the corporate strategy office that oversees about 60 Samsung companies, Samsung Electronics has three CEOs.

 

 

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It seems likely ambition got in the way of security and as a result people have been injured and the company faces both immediate financial consequences and longterm reputation damage. The story of Icarus comes to mind.

 

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-18/samsung-crisis-began-in-rush-to-capitalize-on-uninspiring-iphone

[divided_throwaway]

The fact that so many features from the S6 were removed compared to the S5 (e.g. fixed battery and no expansion) kinda shows how badly Samsung want to beat Apple. They've chosen to reduce innovation which is Android's key defining features. Apple merely "standardises" "new" features.

[dyent10]

this is an editorial piece. at best their claims are speculations about the main idea of the piece. their sources are incredibly anonymous. this is not news, its gossip.

[Centurius]

4 minutes ago, dyent10 said:

this is an editorial piece. at best their claims are speculations about the main idea of the piece. their sources are incredibly anonymous. this is not news, its gossip.

The motivation perhaps, the combination of ineffective management, stricter deadlines and the amount of technologies they wanted to add however are pretty much fact.

[o0Martin]

38 minutes ago, Centurius said:

They went ahead with a slew of new features that had been on the company’s product road map, including an improved screen and stylus -- and then approved a launch date 10 days earlier than last year, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. Samsung’s unveiling was Aug. 3 this year, compared with Aug. 13 last year.

Lol what? The actual release date was 2 days earlier than the Note 5, in some countries it was actually 2 weeks later than the release date of the Note 5; but either way I don't see how that, or the announcement date matters in terms of 'rushing' the device, especially if we're talking a time frame as little as 2-10 days... 

 

Whoever wrote and titled this piece should find a new profession, I actually took the time to read the whole article and not once is there a strong correlation between 'ineffective management' or 'a desire to beat apple' and the battery issue. Just a lot of far-fetched speculation, and unnamed sources. 

Yes it's a fact that deadlines are tight, just like they would have been with the s7 edge, or the iPhone 6, or pretty much any other major launch...

 

Heck in the post they even say:

Quote

The company shipped early models of the Note 7 to wireless operators around the world, including AT&T Inc. in the U.S. and Telstra Corp. in Australia. An executive at one carrier said his team started testing the device in May and had the typical amount of time to check its capabilities.

Making it seem like things were going to schedule... 

 

And I do love how they quote their own analyst in the only sourced reference that suggests they were rushing to beat apple lool. 

 

This article reminds me of the ones anyone can write on LinkedIn... Not exactly what I would consider 'News'

[Kimmers]

It's unfortunate when corporate greed puts consumers as risk. Samsung should have tested and verified their products thoroughly at each production step in order to ensure the safety of its customers.

 

If there is indeed evidence showing that Samsung was rushing its suppliers and production facilities to the point where procedures weren't being done right then that's honestly quite careless. 

[ThinkWithPortals]

39 minutes ago, Centurius said:

The story of Icarus comes to mind.

Samsung got closer to the sun then they should have, and now they're going to burn for it.

[ScratchCat]

I though it was a Third party company's fault, They put the cells together incorrectly, nothing to do with Samsung.