2016 started off well for Samsung with the successful launch of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. However, whilst the summer launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 appeared to be going well, within a few weeks we started seeing reports that the Galaxy Note 7 was exploding either on the charger or off it. The device was subject to a recall to correct a battery fault, but shortly after being replaced, the newly manufactured devices were also either exploding, smoking or catching fire (and perhaps all three). Samsung decided to pull the plug on the Galaxy Note 7 device, recalled it from sale, stopped making the device and set about recycling the 2.5 million devices that had been sold. As 2016 soldiers on, Samsung confirmed that they were switching production lines to the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge devices. We've also seen rumors that the next Samsung Galaxy S flagship, due out early next year, may have a changed design to as to appeal more to the Galaxy Note customers, hinting that Samsung is to do away with the Note product brand, though that doesn't have to be the case, of course.

One particular customer, and probably the kind of customer Samsung would love to woo as he has been (and still is) an Apple iPhone user for years, decided to buy the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge back in September. Unfortunately, the customer dropped the device and shattered the screen. These things happen and when they do, a call to the manufacturer is usually enough to start a repair process. In this case, Samsung said no or to be more precise, explained that owing to current business conditions they have temporarily suspended out-of-warranty repairs. At this point the source details how outrageous it is that Samsung have abandoned their devices, but this is not the case: for whatever reason, and Samsung could have made life easier by explaining why, the company is temporarily unable to repair devices out of warranty. This is likely to be a parts supply shortage, perhaps because Samsung had reduced orders for the Galaxy S7 Edge in expectation that the Galaxy Note 7 would be selling in higher numbers than zero?

Samsung could have also made life a lot easier for the customer had they of explained the scenario to the customer and perhaps even given a timescale as to when their Samsung Repair Centers will be able to repair the device, or offered possible non-warranty losing options such as using a Samsung authorized repair center. Meanwhile, this is the first time we have heard of this and hopefully this is not the start of an alarming new trend.