Samsung almost sold you the Note7 that was saved from the explosion. Will it be the next HTC?

With the official launch of Samsung's new flagship Galaxy Note8 in China in the second half of 2017, many people may not know that you could almost buy last year's Note7 that was destroyed by battery problems at about the same time.

In order to prevent the phone from exploding wherever it is used, the battery capacity of the Galaxy Note FE has been reduced from 3500mAh to 3200mAh. Other configurations remain unchanged. The price is 699,600 won, or about 4,100 yuan.

Recently, according to foreign media SamMobile, in addition to South Korea, Samsung also announced that the Galaxy Note FE will be launched in the Malaysian market on October 25. Users can purchase it from the official website or offline stores. The price is basically the same as in South Korea, US$616, which is about RMB 4,100.

However, it is worth noting that a well-known industry analyst broke the news on Weibo that Samsung China also considered introducing the Galaxy Note FE, but ultimately canceled the plan after weighing the pros and cons.

It seems that domestic consumers are once again missing out on the memories of the once brilliant era.

China is trying to put its "popular" old flagships back on the shelves. What are Samsung's reasons for weighing the pros and cons?

Although this reborn version of Note7 named Galaxy Note FE did not actually return to the domestic market, Samsung's balancing move is obviously that it feels this product still has value in the country.

In terms of configuration, the Galaxy Note FE still uses the same 5.7-inch dual-curved screen as the Note7, with a resolution of 2560×1440, is equipped with an Exynos 8890 octa-core processor, has a rear 12-megapixel camera, and is equipped with 4GB of memory + 64GB of storage.

This old flagship still looks good today, but the domestic mobile phone market in China is by no means like South Korea or small Southeast Asian countries that have a "family relationship" with Samsung. Domestic mobile phone brands are already competing at all price points. Can the Note7 still be sold for 4,000+ this year?

Of course, this actually reflects that today's Samsung is no longer sure of the tone of the Chinese market, so that many product strategies that seem to be trying to create a stir never work for domestic consumers.

Last year, the Note7 explosion incident coincided with the turning point when domestic consumers' enthusiasm for Korean brands declined. Samsung did not choose to take domestic recall measures in sync with international measures to test the patience of Chinese consumers.

When major airlines put up signs at airports saying "No Samsung Note7 phones allowed on board", it was probably a foreshadowing that the powerful Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note8 would find it difficult to achieve ideal results in China.

On the other hand, facing the increasingly sluggish Chinese market, the product transformation measures taken proactively by Samsung are just a drop in the bucket.

In the past two years, although Samsung has launched models such as the Galaxy C and Galaxy A series priced below 3,000 yuan or even 2,000 yuan for the mid-to-low-end mobile phone market, it has never really stimulated users' desire to buy, and most ordinary consumers have not even heard of these products.

Just like the consideration of whether Note7 should return to the domestic market, Samsung may have also pondered the psychology of Chinese consumers for a long time. Fortunately, Samsung made the right decision this time, but unfortunately many wrong decisions are irreversible.

The shadow of the "second HTC" is forcing Samsung to retreat in China

I still remember a few years ago, we discussed the issue of why HTC mobile phones declined. The market and product strategies that did not keep pace with the times, as well as the brand's adherence to a high-end positioning that was no longer worthy of its name, not only caused the loss of the domestic market, but also meant that today HTC's mobile phone business can only be sold to Google.

Samsung's predicament in China today seems to be a repeat of HTC's decline. Even though Samsung may still be a brand that can challenge Apple in the overseas mobile phone market, it has asked too many questions in China, such as "How can such a high-end brand be like this?" As a result, the brand's visibility has gradually faded in the eyes of consumers.

Next, the best way out for Samsung may be to become a role behind a domestic mobile phone brand, such as providing AMOLED screens.

As for Samsung's so-called product selling points and brand value, they have obviously become less eye-catching under the impact of the strong development momentum of domestic brands.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.