Samsung to sell tweaked Note 7 phones

Samsung Electronics plans to sell refurbished versions of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, the company said on Monday, signalling the return of the model pulled from markets in 2016 because of fire-prone batteries.

Samsung’s Note 7s were permanently scrapped in October 2016 after some phones self-combusted, prompting a global recall roughly two months after the launch of the near-$900 devices.

A subsequent investigation found manufacturing problems in batteries supplied by two companies — Samsung SDI and Amperex Technology.

Analysis from Samsung and independent researchers found no other problems in the Note 7 devices except the batteries, raising speculation that Samsung will recoup some of its losses by selling refurbished Note 7s.

However, Samsung’s announcement that revamped Note 7s will go back on sale surprised some with the timing — only days before it launches its new S8 smartphone on Wednesday in the US, its first new premium phone since the debacle in 2016.

The company estimated that it took a profit hit of $5.5bn over three quarters because of the Note 7’s troubles. It had sold more than 3-million of the phones before taking the model off the market.

Samsung also plans to recover and use or sell reusable components such as chips and camera modules, as well as rare metals such as copper, gold, nickel and silver from Note 7 devices it opts not to sell as refurbished products. /