Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Fan Edition US Launch May Be Held Soon As Company Limits South Korean Sales

Samsung is limiting the sale of Galaxy Note FE — the refurbished version of Galaxy Note 7— in South Korea despite the device’s popularity, South Korean publication the Investor reported Monday.

“We have no plans to roll out more Note FE phones in Korea,” a Samsung official told the publication.

Read : Samsung Galaxy Note 8 To Continue Small Battery Trend After Galaxy Note 7 Fan Edition Release

Note FE has all the features of Note 7 except the battery; it has a 3,200 mAh battery in place of Note 7's 3,500 mAh battery. In addition, it will also have Samsung’s artificial intelligence based voice assistant Bixby, and the same software-based features as the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus.

When the device was launched on Friday, the number of new mobile subscribers for the country surged to 24,000 a day from 15,000 a day. The reason being the Note FE is available at a cheaper price than similar premium devices — it is available for 699,600 won ($608), which is 20 percent cheaper than Note 7’s launch price.

However, the company has limited the sale of Note FE to 400,000 units in South Korea as the device is expected to be launched globally next month. Samsung might not be manufacturing any more Note 7 devices, but it did recall 2.5 million Note 7 units. By not selling more units, the company might be retaining the rest for a global launch.

The success of the Note FE will also help Samsung recover some of the lost reputation of its Note series devices. After the disastrous Note 7, the company was rumored to have been considering the complete discontinuation of the Note series. If the Note FE is successful, it will at least partly restore user confidence in the series, which might also work well for the upcoming Galaxy Note 8 release.

Samsung went through a disastrous phase in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2016, due to various incidents of Note 7s exploding; the explosions were traced to a defect that occurred when the batteries were exposed to ambient air. The company has subsequently made a recovery and posted its highest profits in its recent history thanks to the success of the Samsung Galaxy S8.

Read: Is Samsung Galaxy S8+ Price Dropping Because of Galaxy Note 8 Release Date?

The company’s remarkable recovery post the Note 7 crisis is in part owed to its research and development department. The Galaxy S8 has many new features such as an edge-to-edge display and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, based on performance efficient 10nm processor technology.

If the S8’s success meant resurgence of the Samsung brand, the Note FE, if it succeeds, will mark the resurgence of the Note brand. Samsung seems to be regaining lost user confidence. The launch of the Note FE will also mark the first time the company launches both the low-priced and premium version of the Note series devices.