When asked about the potential impact of the massive Galaxy Niote 7 recall, the head of Samsung's mobile business, Koh Dong-Jin, said that was likely to cost the company "a heartbreaking amount."
Dong-Jin was not just referring to the recall itself, which is likely to cost the company an estimated $4 or $5 billion -- Samsung's overall revenue in 2016 is projected to exceed $20 billion in 2016 -- but in the market advantage it hoped to gain by releasing the Galaxy Note before the iPhone 7 entered the market.
Whatever competitive advantage it gained through haste, however, has been lost due to units that explode while charging. Insiders speculate that the faulty battery could even be the unintended consequence of said haste, inasmuch as Samsung pressured its subcontractors to push schedules and, possibly, the limits of their manufacturing potential.
Apple is already poised to profit off Samsung's misfortune, alerting its suppliers to increase their rates of production in order to take advantage of the currently extant gap in the cutting-edge smartphone market. That is, of course, if it can keep its rushed-market-model from spontaneously combusting.
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