Note7 users outsmart Samsung

120,000 still using jumbo smartphones

By Kang Seung-woo

Samsung Electronics is going all-out to make Galaxy Note 7 users give up the discontinued smartphone as some 120,000 users, including 40,000 in Korea, are still in possession of the devices prone to catching fire.

However, it remains to be seen if its efforts will pay off as there are few handsets on the market to lure the holdouts away from the exploding jumbo phone along with its much-touted features.

Although Samsung adopted a series of measures like capping the maximum battery life to encourage its users to return them, some learned how to avoid the software update. Pundits even claim users can get the battery back to 100 percent capacity even after the software update.

The world’s largest smartphone maker started selling the Note 7 here on Aug. 19, but halted sales and conducted two rounds of global recalls following reports of some of the devices catching fire while charging. It finally killed off the Note 7 altogether in early October. On Jan. 23, Samsung blamed the poorly designed and manufactured batteries for the overheating problem.

“It has to do with consumer safety, so we are making full-fledged efforts to retrieve as many Note 7s as possible,” an official of Samsung Electronics said.

The firm has once again extended the deadline for refunds and exchanges to the end of this month.

“During the period, those who will turn in the Note 7s do not have to pay any cancellation fees,” the official added.

According to Samsung, the Note 7 return rates for global and domestic users both reached 96 percent as of Jan. 23, which translates into 120,000 and 40,000, respectively.

In order to boost the return rate to 100 percent, the company issued a software upgrade last month to cap battery charging to 15 percent for Note 7 users. The measure also began in Europe on Tuesday.

However, Samsung said it has no further plans yet to make the Korean Note 7 lovers return their phones.

Verizon, the largest wireless carrier in the U.S., unveiled its plan last month, to divert all calls made from Note 7s to its customer service team, according to Forbes.

Despite the company’s efforts, Note 7 users remain resistant, bypassing software updates. Rather, they are set to hang on to their ill-fated handsets until Samsung launches its next-generation flagship Galaxy S8 that is expected to debut in late March or early April.

Members of an internet cafe of Note 7 users demand that Samsung allow them to use their smartphones freely until the S8 release.

“As faulty batteries are the root cause of the Note 7 disaster, we hope Samsung will replace them with safe batteries so we can continue using them,” a Note 7 user said.

A cellphone vendor said a lack of competitive replacements also prevents them from turning in their Note 7s.

“Many consumers have used them because they believe other devices are not as attractive as the Note 7, so they are likely to wait for Samsung to launch the Galaxy S8,” the seller said.