Samsung could take $17 bn revenue hit as Note 7 seems doomed

Samsung Electronics' worst-ever recall could cost the company as much as $17 billion after it halted sales of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 for a second time. This spells an almost certain end for the ill-fated premium model, suggests Reuters.

Samsung announced the recall of 2.5 million Note 7s in early September following numerous reports of the phones catching fire and on Tuesday the crisis deepened: The company told mobile carriers to stop sales or exchange of the $882 device and asked users to shut off their phones while it investigated new reports of fires in replacement Note 7s.

The move does not end the questions facing Samsung. It still has not disclosed what specifically caused the Note 7s to smoke and catch fire – or even whether it knows what the problem was, points out the Australian Financial Review. The electronics giant's reputation and finances are under pressure, and it may face questions about the safety of its other products and whether it cuts corners in producing kitchen appliances and washing machines.

Samsung has received at least 92 reports of Note 7 batteries overheating in the United States, with 26 reports of burns and 55 reports of property damage, according to information posted by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. The agency is now working on a potential recall of the replacement Note 7s.

As the world's top-selling smartphone company awaits results of probe by US safety regulators, some investors and analysts predict Samsung may scrap the Note 7 and move on to successor models to limit the financial and reputational damage.

"In the worst case scenario, the US could conclude the product is fundamentally flawed and ban sales of the device," Song Myung-sub, an analyst at HI Investment Securities, told Reuters.

If Samsung stops selling the Note 7s, that will translate into lost sales of up to 19 million phones that the firm was expected to generate during the Note 7's product cycle, according to analysts.

That would equate to nearly $17 billion in lost revenue, based on a Reuters calculation of the cost of the phones. That's a big increase from $5 billion in missed sales and recall costs analysts initially expected Samsung to incur under the assumption that the firm would resume global Note 7 sales in the fourth quarter.

Chances of that now look slim. South Korea's Hankyoreh newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said on Tuesday Samsung will likely stop Note 7 sales permanently. Samsung did not comment on the report.

"This has probably killed the Note 7 brand name," said Edward Snyder, the managing director of Charter Equity Research.

"By the time they fix the problem they have to go through recertification and requalification and by the time that happens, they're going up against the (Galaxy) S8 launch," Snyder told Reuters.

Samsung has already temporarily halted Note 7 production (See: Samsung halts production and sale of Galaxy Note 7, asks users to switch off). That could lead to a write-down in inventory in the event Samsung has to end sales entirely.

Broker Nomura estimates Samsung may have to incur up to 1.6 trillion won of disposal costs in the fourth quarter, assuming around 4 million Note 7s have been made.

For Samsung, with a market value of $235 billion and $69 billion in cash and equivalents at the end of June, the loss of sales of one model could be absorbed. The bigger problem will be long-term impact on its reputation and brand, analysts and experts say.

"We think the Note 7 incident may hurt demand for Samsung's other smartphone models as well," Nomura analysts said in a note, adding it may have to slash Samsung's fourth-quarter mobile division profit estimates by as much as 85 per cent.

Verizon Communications Inc, the largest US wireless carrier, is already considering shifting marketing away from the troubled Note 7s, a company spokesman said on Monday.

That is likely to boost rival products such as the new Google Pixel and Apple Inc's new iPhone taking market share from Samsung, as most vendors launch new products ahead of the critical year-end holiday sales season.

Samsung also faces lawsuits, with at least two consumers taking the company to the court in the United States to claim compensation on damages stemming from the faulty smartphone.

The Note 7 woes may also roil Samsung's component business, an important and growing source of revenue, as it provides key smartphone parts such as phone screens and memory chips.

Falling Note 7-related orders could not only cut overall revenue for the component business unit, but also crimp prices of such parts, analysts said.