Galaxy Note 7是怎样一步步走向停产的

三星电子（Samsung Electronics）在10月4日宣布，停止生产Galaxy Note 7智能手机，这离他们停止这款手机在全球的销售还不足24小时。

路透社（Reuters）报道称，这家韩国公司在向首尔证券交易所提交的文件中表示：“（我们）把消费者的人身安全放在第一位，故决定停止Galaxy Note 7的生产和销售。”（Note 7本质上是Galaxy S7的大屏版本，后者并未遭遇困扰Note 7的问题。）

为什么这款流行的智能手机发布仅不到两个月，三星就宣布了它的停产呢？让我们简单回顾一下过程：

8月19日，Note 7发布

8月19日，三星最新款的大屏手写笔安卓手机正式发布。《时代》（Time）杂志对它的评价是“相比前一代机型有着微小而令人欢迎的改进，拥有更符合人体工程学的设计，强化了手写笔的功能，搭载了与兄弟机型Galaxy S7一样的摄像头，对一些软件进行了微调”，并给了它4.5星（满星为5星）的评价。（召回事件之后，我们取消了对它的推荐）。它的售价约为每月30美元，若是一次性付款，则要超过800美元，这取决于无线运营商。

手机着火的消息开始扩散

Note 7着火的消息开始扩散。Galaxy Note 7电池过热的报告在美国出现了92例，其中26例造成了手机燃烧，55例造成了财产损失。佛罗里达州的一位男士表示，他在SUV内给Galaxy Note 7充电，结果手机突然燃烧，导致车内着火。

旅客运输的全球三大运营商——美国航空（American Airlines）、达美航空（Delta Air Lines）和联合航空（United Airlines）表示，已经安排了员工在机舱门口和机内告知旅客让Note 7保持关闭状态，直到他们下飞机为止。

召回手机，进行调换

9月初，三星停止了Note 7的销售。美国消费产品安全委员会（The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission）警告用户关掉这些手机，不要再使用它们。在9月15日之前，委员会还自发组织了手机的召回。

三星在全球10个市场一共召回了250万部Note 7手机，其中光在美国就召回了100万部。超过50万部新手机被运至美国的运营商和零售店，供用户进行调换。

三星还为Note 7提供了软件更新，帮助用户辨别自己的手机是否属于召回之列。软件会在手机的状态栏显示绿色的电池标志，表明这个手机是否是受到影响的那一批。

《华盛顿日报》报道，在美国和韩国，有60%受影响的手机都已经得到了调换，90%的消费者选择用新的Galaxy Note 7替换问题手机，而不是退款，或是更换其他型号的产品。

三星市值跳水

三星的市值开始跳水，9月12日，公司股价达到了两个月以来的最低值。由于全球各地的监管方和航空公司发出了一系列警告，投资者对该手机的前景表现出担忧，导致这家韩国公司的市值缩水了15.9万亿韩元（合143亿美元）。

IBK Securities的分析师李升茂表示：“一些人本预测Galaxy Note 7将成为最优秀的智能手机，但是现在，它可能会成为最糟糕的那一款。”他预计Note 7将在今年第四季度销售疲软。

分析师表示，召回事件将对这家市值2,110亿美元的公司的品牌形象产生长期的负面影响，这会阻止他们从苹果（Apple）等竞争对手处抢回市场占有率。有人预计，算上召回成本，三星这次的收入损失可能高达50亿美元。

有报道指出，替换的手机仍然会着火

有新报道指出，替换的手机和原来的手机一样会着火，因此自10月9日起，三星停止了替换召回的Note 7。

一周之前，在西南航空（Southwest Airlines）的一架航班上，由于Note 7在关闭之后仍然冒烟，并发出爆音，乘客被紧急疏散。与此同时，《华盛顿日报》报道称，加利福尼亚州的两名用户反映，他们替换后的Galaxy Note 7变得很烫。

三星在一份声明中对《华盛顿日报》表示，“温度起伏”可能会出现，但不会有安全风险，尽管公司也称正在联系消费者，解决替换手机后出现的这些个案。

Business Insider报道称，移动运营商T-Mobile、AT&T和威瑞森（Verizon）已经停止了销售和调换Note 7手机。AT&T在一份声明中表示：“我们暂时不再提供Note 7的调换服务，直到这些事件得到了进一步的调查为止。”不过消费者还可以选择替换其他型号的手机。

三星宣布停止生产Galaxy Note 7

在本周二提交的监管文件中，三星宣布了停产的最后决定，“为了把消费者的人身安全放在第一位。”这可能是科技史上代价最高昂的一次产品安全故障。（财富中文网）

译者：严匡正

Samsung Electronics announced Tuesday that it’sstopping production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, less than 24 hours after halting global sales of the device.

“(We) have decided to halt production and sales of the Galaxy Note 7 in order to consider our consumers’ safety first and foremost,” the South Korean firm wrote in a filing to the Seoul stock exchange, Reuters reports. (The Note 7 is essentially the larger version of the Galaxy S7, which hasn’t been affected by the problems plaguing the Note 7.)

But why is Samsung ending production of its popular smartphone less than two months after it launched? Here’s a brief recap:

The Note 7 launches on Aug. 19

The latest of Samsung’s large-screened, stylus-toting Android smartphones launches on August 19. TIMEdescribes it as “a modest but welcome improvement over its predecessor, offering a more ergonomic design, an enhanced stylus, the same camera as its Galaxy S7 cousin, and some software tweaks” and awards it 4.5 out of 5 stars. (We have since rescinded our recommendation in light of the recall.) It costs around $30 per month, or more than $800 without a payment plan, depending on the wireless carrier.

Reports begin circulation about devices catching fire

Tales of Note 7 devices catching fire begin to spread. Samsung receives 92 reports of batteries overheating in Galaxy Note 7 phones in the U.S.; it says there were 26 reports of burns and 55 reports of property damage. Aman in Florida says his vehicle caught fire when the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone charging inside his SUV burst into flames.

The world’s three largest carriers by passenger traffic—American Airlines , Delta Air Lines DAL , and United Airlines UAL —say that employees will tell passengers at the gate and on board aircraft to keep the Note 7 switched off until they deplane.

Phones recalled and replacements shipped

In early Sept., Samsung stops selling the Note 7. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warns users to power down their devices and stop using them. It also issues a voluntary recall of devicessold before Sept. 15.

In total, Samsung recalls 2.5 million of the new Notes across 10 worldwide markets, including one million in the U.S. More than 500,000 replacement units of the device are shipped to carrier and retail stores in the U.S.

A software update is also launched for the Note 7 to help owners distinguish whether or not their smartphone is included in the recall. The software displays a green battery icon in the phone’s status bar to indicate whether or not the phone has been affected.

The Journal reports that about 60% of the affected Notes in the U.S. and Korea have been replaced, with about 90% of customers choosing to replace the faulty phone with a new Galaxy Note 7 rather than get a refund or trade it in for a different type of phone.

Samsung’s market value drops

Samsung’s market value begins to plummet as shares fall to their lowest level in nearly two months on Sept. 12. Investors wipe 15.9 trillion won ($14.3 billion) off the South Korean firm’s market capitalization as a series of warnings from regulators and airlines around the world raised fears for the future of the device.

“Some said initially the Galaxy Note 7 could be the best smartphone ever, but now it’s possible the phone will go down as the worst ever,” IBK Securities analyst Lee Seung-woo says, predicting weak sales in the fourth quarter.

Analysts say the recall could have a lasting impact on the $211 billion company’s brand image, which could derail a recovery in its smartphone market share against rivals like Apple Inc. Some estimate the firm might lose $5 billion won worth of revenue after accounting for recall costs.

New reports suggest replacement phones are also catching fire

On Oct. 9, Samsung stops exchanging recalled Note 7 devices due to reports of replacement phones catching fire, just as the original phones did.

The week before, a Southwest Airlines flight is evacuated because of a phone that is smoking and making “popping” noises after it is turned off. Meanwhile, the Journal cites two users in California who each received a replacement Galaxy Note 7 only to discover that they became very hot.

In a statement, Samsung tells the Journal that “temperature fluctuations” could occur and weren’t a safety risk, although it did say it was resolving individual cases with customers who had issues with their replacement devices.

Mobile providers T-Mobile , AT&T , and Verizon halt sales and exchanges, Business Insider reports. “We’re no longer exchanging new Note 7s at this time, pending further investigation of these reported incidents,” AT&T says in a statement. Instead, customers are allowed to exchange the phones for a different model.

Samsung announces it has stopped production of the Galaxy Note 7

In a regulatory filing Tuesday, Samsung announces that it has made a final decision to stop production “in order to consider . . . consumers’ safety first and foremost”. It could be one of the costliest product safety failures in the history of technology.