Samsung Planning To Sell Refurbished Galaxy Note 7 Units In 2017

Samsung may have officially discontinued the exploding Galaxy Note 7, but it looks like the company isn’t giving up on the smartphone entirely. Samsung is planning to sell refurbished Galaxy Note 7 units in 2017.

“Samsung has not made a final decision yet, but it will likely sell the refurbished note 7 units next year,” an anonymous industry source told The Investor (via The Next Web). The source claims that Samsung will sell the refurbished handsets in emerging markets like India and Vietnam where low-end and mid-range smartphones are more popular.

This may help Samsung in attracting new customers who want a flagship handset for a lower price, as pointed out by Ubergizmo. This would also mean that Samsung won’t suffer too much of a loss by simply disposing all of the Note 7 units that have already been returned to them.

However, selling refurbished Galaxy Note 7 units might also be just another disaster waiting to happen. Samsung is already working on the Galaxy S8 for 2017, and its sales will surely be affected if these refurbished Note 7 units also begin catching fire.

Samsung issued a global recall for the Galaxy Note 7 in early September when a number of units caught fire after being left charging for a long period of time. Samsung eventually halted production of the Note 7 on Oct. 11 when replacements units also began catching fire.

The company is still trying to get all of the Note 7 units back to its headquarters in South Korea where Samsung is investigating what caused the issue. The company still has no idea what made the Note 7 spontaneously combust.

If Samsung is confident enough to start selling refurbished Galaxy Note 7 units in 2017, it’s possible that the company might have already made a breakthrough on its ongoing investigation. That being said, this strategy is still risky, and it could put the company and a lot of its customers in jeopardy.