Analysts now expect Galaxy Note 7 sales to lag behind the Galaxy Note 5

When the Galaxy Note 7 was announced next month it felt like Samsung had another winner on its hands. The device received amazing reviews at launch and it was quickly painted to be the handset to beat in 2016. It all turned upside down when Samsung confirmed a battery cell issue, halted sales and issued a recall. Since then, the company's market value and brand value has suffered significant damage. Not all customers may be willing to place their trust in the Galaxy Note 7 even as Samsung starts handing out new inventory that has safe batteries. This is why analysts now believe that the Galaxy Note 7 sales might lag behind the Galaxy Note 5.

A report from BayStreet Research reveals that the Galaxy Note 7 had a great start last month and sales were found to be 25 percent higher than its predecessor. Back then, analysts believed that this handset would perform as well as the Galaxy S7 series which was a major contributor to Samsung's record results in the second quarter of this year.

That's no longer the case and analysts have now revised their sales projections for the Galaxy Note 7. They believe that the new flagship may only bring in 60 percent of the sales that the Galaxy Note 5 made last year. “Best case, this is similar to an automobile recall and quickly forgotten with the new / replacement item viewed as safer than before. Worse case, this is remembered like the quality of Siri or Apple Maps and very difficult for consumers to forget,” the report adds.

If this ends up to be the case then the Galaxy Note 7 will prove to be a very expensive device for Samsung. A recent report suggests that Samsung rushed the Galaxy Note 7 because it wanted to beat the iPhone 7 and that ended up making matters worse. It would certainly be a shame if the Galaxy Note 7 does not perform to its full potential but given everything that has happened over the past few weeks, Samsung might find it hard to persuade customers to give the Galaxy Note 7 a second chance.

Adnan Farooqui - Executive Editor

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First Samsung device: SGH-E900

Adnan Farooqui is a long-term writer at SamMobile. Based in Pakistan, his interests include technology, finance, Swiss watches and Formula 1. His tendency to write long posts betrays his inclination to being a man of few words.

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