EITC001 IITC001 Case Study Of Smartphone Galaxy Note 7 Explosion Assessment 3 Answer

Answer :

INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION:

CASE STUDY OF SAMSUNG GALAXY EXPLOSION

Introduction

In August 2016, Samsung launched Smartphone Galaxy Note 7, which has earned popularity for its specifications and features within few days it introduced in the marketplace. Within 20 days, there were different reports came to light on overheating and the explosion of Galaxy Note 7, which has declined the performance and brand value of the company. The particular study puts a brief discussion on this case including reasons of failure, lessons learned and future application of hardware and software in the Smartphones. The purpose of the study is to observe the case study of Samsung Galaxy to evaluate the IT faults, which could not be repeated in the near future projects.    

Overview of the case study: Samsung galaxy explosion

Samsung Galaxy Note 7, which has been introduced in 2016 stated as one of the best Smart phones introduced by the company in the market.  Since 2016, the Samsung Galaxy Note series brand has enjoyed popularity with a market share of 6.89% worldwide. However, within 20 days of the release of Galaxy Note 7, reports of an explosion of Note 7 have come to light. The first explosion caused in South Korea following China, after that reports from different corner of the world, where the product has been distributed and sold.  The crisis of explosions and reports has been carried out for about 2 months which has resulted in fall of the market value of $17 billion for Samsung (BBC News., 2019).

Figure 1: Samsung Sales 

(Source: Shamsi, Ali and Kazmi, 2017)

The Spokesperson of Samsung has stated that battery malfunctioning, poor battery design and technical faults have been caused improper battery performance and overheating of Galaxy Note 7 which has led to series of explosions on this model purchased by the consumers in the market. As per the CEO of the company, Samsung has been working with two battery suppliers for manufacturing the batteries of Note 7 (Forbes.com., 2019). Thus, the materials and resources used for manufacturing these batteries have been malfunctioned as components of the electrode in the right upper corner of battery redirected which resulted in short circuit making the mobile overhead and finally exploding. It has evaluated that Samsung Galaxy Note 7 failure is named one of the largest failures within electronics and hardware industry in recent times. The Smartphone complied design, and SDI batteries are responsible for the explosion of Galaxy Note 7 within 20 days of its flagship and launch (Polygon., 2019). The case analysis suggests that aggressive designing of the phone increased pressure and compressed its thick battery, however, the technical engineers of the company has stated that the manufacturing division of the company has tried to make a proper balance between supreme CPU processing and a maximum capacity of the phone. The use of small batteries might have reduced the battery life as the processing unit of the phone consumes high battery power to regulate function properly           

Figure 2: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Battery

(Source: Loveridge et al., 2018)

The properties of battery introduced in the Smartphone include chemicals; these chemicals and components have the power to process the battery as well as potentiality to let the battery malfunction and catch fire. As per the assessment, the manufacturing of the batteries might have been put in thorough testing to check for any potential and possible complications made by the Smartphone before its launch. The crises of Galaxy Note 7 faced by Samsung might have been averted if the organization might have taken some time to introduce its product after confirmation of safety and security (Shamsi, Ali and Kazmi, 2017). As per the case analysis, there has been a bit early and hurry to release the Smartphone in the market, which might have limited testing and process checking of the phone which later resulted to loss of the brand value due to battery defaults. The testing might have detected technical and battery defaults of the phone, which might have avoided or averted the massive failure witnessed by Samsung in the year of 2016.  

As per social environment, consumers of the company has made a complaint and shown aggression over the behavioral approach of the company over providing compensations, and replacement services (Loveridge et al., 2018). Within a few months of the event, the consumers of the company lost trust, consumer loyalty and brand value for the Samsung products. In case of ethical consideration, Samsung has made unclear comments, explanation and message regarding the recall of Galaxy Note 7 and its battery as well as explosion issues. The company didn’t provide any official feedback rather made a common statement over using duplicate chargers is causes of these explosions. However, the comment has been withdrawn by the company and compensation is made by the company privately to the users faces such explosions. There have been delays made by the company for the shipment of Note 7 in South Korea in regards to adding quality and testing options for the Smartphone's (Business Insider., 2019). The Samsung mobile division faced the financial loss of about 30% of the profit, the company revenue has fallen since reports came up over overheating and the explosion of the Galaxy Note 7 mobile. It has evaluated that there have been 33% drop in the operating profit of the company; the revenue expectations for the year 2016 has been cut down by $41.8 billion. The crisis which has been faced by Samsung Galaxy Note 7 might be stated as unique as the crisis might have been avoided if proper testing might have been made by the technical and manufacturing divisions of the entity (Deccan Chronicle., 2019).  

Graphics 

As per the graphical design of Galaxy Note 7, it has observed that design introduced for the phone was considerably smaller for the battery, in the replacement models; the company has introduced poorly manufactured batteries. In the graphical design, 13.48 wh li-On battery with the non-replaceable system has been introduced in Galaxy Note 7 (Thandu, Chellappan and Yin, 2015). The processor chip installed in Note 7 was Exynos 8890. The graphics processing unit in the Galaxy Note 7 was Adreno 530 and Mali-T880 MP12. In case of graphics, the battery consists of the negative tab, positive tab, jelly-roll, a positive and negative electrode, the malfunctioning of electrodes might cause a short circuit which results from overheating and explosion (Inc.com., 2019). The location of negative and positive electrode writing and layer are also introduced as graphical options. It has observed that proper insulation tape also plays a vital role in designing the battery, missing or absence of the insulation tape could cause malfunctioning of the battery.  

Lesson learnt 

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 explosion has reduced the brand image and value in the global marketplace. In the case of consumer electronics and Smartphone industry, there are different strategic lessons that have been extracted from the crisis of Smartphone explosion faced by Samsung. The company has been obsessed with sticking to the leading Smartphone manufacturer and provider, which has rushed to production and launch and missed proper testing (Quartz., 2019). Thus, it could be concluded that a market leader requires to evaluate every possible testing and production assessment, as once it becomes a negative product at a glance the leading position could be lost. In the course of beating the competitors in the marketplace, Samsung might have in ideas to introduce most advanced and reliable Smartphone in the market, although the failure of the product has declined its market share and profitability in a vast manner. From the case, it could be observed that beating competitors is not the only way to reach a leadership position in the marketplace (The Independent., 2019). There has been lack of direction for Samsung while in the race to provide reliable Smartphone in the market; it has evaluated that introduce of advanced design and structure which has not matched with the battery system has been the causing of the crises. From the analysis, it could be observed that business entities operating in the same market requires controlling rudder before going to the public with its product and services. The proper preparation helps business entities to observe every possible risk and make alternatives based on it. Samsung bought battery utilities and materials from two of its suppliers, which turn out to be the poor quality of components, which later shaped the disasters for the company affecting (Yun et al., 2018). Thus, it could be incurred that supplier’s relationship must include analysis of their quality assurance, material reliability and testing of the materials while engaging in the manufacturing process.  In addition, it could be observed that the high-end competition over smartphones might be slow down so that every business presenting mobile products might focus on the product quality over market competition.      

Recommendation for future application 

The case analysis and lesson evaluations have provided different alternative ideas and observation, which could be introduced for future product development so that errors could be minimized while it is the case of electronic products. While introducing such electronic grades in the near future, the business entities might require developing core and sensitive product design analysis and evaluating its parameters. Thus, it might be recommended that every specific product requires thorough testing including phone design, hardware, software, battery, chip, operating system, CPU and GPU (graphics processing unit) for assurance of better performance of the product in the market.  The company reputation and brand image is directly linked with the quality of the product served or delivered in the market. It is necessary to introduce quality components, features and facilities in the electronic products so that it not only provides benefits to the consumer bit also able to meet their expectations. Thus, it might be recommended that every product components required being high quality, thus the supplier’s relationships and analysis over their raw materials required to be evaluated. The high quality of materials introduces additional value to the product which helps to boost customer satisfaction. The mobile producing company might require taking care of the components, internal systems such as chip, operating system, graphics, processing units and battery quality before it could be introduced in the marketplace. As per the electronic goods and services, the pricing plays a vital part which affects the consumer attitude, behavior and purchase decisions. Thus, it is necessary to make proper market research over economic conditions, consumers spending power and desire of purchasing products in the market. It might be recommended that the business entities operating in the electronics and Smartphone industry require evaluating the market conditions for setting the pricing of its product and services. These not only help to increase the customer base but also be able to increase its profit margin via enhancing its sales in the marketplace. The technology in battery development and manufacturing might require more amendments. In the case of Samsung, the company not has been able to evalaute the cause of crises for several months stating there are some technical faults in the battery. Thus, it could be observed that there might be a requirement of more in-depth study over technological aspects of production and manufacturing of the Smartphone batteries in the market. Power is the most important substance that requires proper measurement and analysis, an increase or decrease in the electrical cords might end with the malfunctioning of the batteries resulting in the poor performance of the Smartphones in the market. Thus, it might require more proper measurement and amendments over investigation and testing of the power and electro cord in relation to increasing the performance and safety of the batteries from being malfunctioned or short circuit.   

Personal Evaluation 

The case study evaluated different learning and outcome over the competition, product quality, service quality features, IT engineering and other aspects over Smartphone manufacturing in the marketplace. I think the most important aspect that I have observed from the case analysis is testing and investigation over the performance of the electrical gadgets before it is introduced in the market. It could be better than sample products could be delivered for usage to the employees for the firm so that prime loopholes could be detected. I think the business entities might recognize the fact that consumer’s acceptance of the product increases their sales and dislikes might end up to solvency of the business in the market. I have learned that quality is the most prime part and basic thing that every business entity require to focus, once the quality is high standard the leadership, market position, market share, customer base and market expansion come to the line sequence process. I have observed that lack of proper testing and poor quality of battery component might have been resulted to overheat and the explosion of the Galaxy Note 7 in the market. Unlike, Ford Pinto car fuel engine issues have causes problem of fire and blasts, which resulted in recalling of specific models from the market. Later on, it has specified that the poor quality of fuel engines results in the loss of the brand image. In the same cases, I think the introduction of poor quality product in the market has only a specific impact which is the decline of the business performance and positioning in the market. I have learned that every product whether it is Smartphone or other product require proper testing and analysis before introduction in the market in concerns of minimizing errors to decliner risks over the company and product performance.       

Conclusion   

The case analysis reflects that Samsung Galaxy Note 7 battery defaults, phone defining and missing of proper testing of the phone might have resulted in the overheating and explosion of the Smartphone. It has analyzed that the crises of Galaxy Note 7 have reduced the profitability, customer value, brand value and brand image of Samsung, which has forced the company to recall the Galaxy Note 7 series from the marketplace. The study introduced learning and suggestions over the crises which evaluate the business entireties operating in the same industry might require focusing over the components, features and Smartphone designs over the market competition.