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Damage control? Samsung hands out free Galaxy Note 8 phones to all passengers on flight

Samsung Galaxy Note 8's predecessor Galaxy Note 7 had blown up nearly 112 times in separate incidents worldwide after just the first month of launch.

October 25, 2017 / 11:34 IST
Samsung GalaxyNote8

Samsung doled out free samples of its flagship Galaxy Note 8 to flyers in a bid to prove that it is ‘safe’.

The exercise was done by Samsung to bring home the message that the Galaxy Note 8 is “safe as a chocolate bar” on aeroplanes. This is being seen as a confidence-building exercise after Note 8's predecessor Note 7 was discontinued as multiple incidents of its battery catching fire were reported.

The company handed out 200 units of its latest flagship Galaxy Note 8, packed and sealed in boxes to passengers on a flight in Spain from Madrid to A Coruna.

The boxes were accompanied with a message: “A year ago we asked you to turn it off, we welcome you today on board.”

(Courtesy: YouTube)

Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 had blown up nearly 112 times in separate incidents worldwide after just the first month of launch.

Samsung had recalled 2.5 million units of the Note 7 in early September following numerous reports of the phones catching fire, a move which that cost the company an approximate USD 17 billion.

The company had stopped production of the Note 7 and asked consumers who had bought the device to return it and had even disabled the remaining ones with a software update.

However, Samsung's customers in the US are unaffected by Galaxy Note 7's debacle. As many as 63% of the Samsung customers in a survey agreed to buy the Note 8 despite the Note 7's disaster.

Infographic: Samsung Fans Unfazed by Galaxy Note 7 Debacle | Statista

Incidents of phones catching fire, however, are being seen more often.

Recently, a passenger’s Samsung J7 caught fire onboard a Delhi-Indore Jet Airways flight. The fumes were put out by immersing the device in a tray of water as the onboard fire extinguishers were not working.

Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 is Samsung’s latest high-end smartphone available in India for Rs 67,900.

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first published: Oct 25, 2017 11:34 am

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