After a series of exploding Galaxy Note 7’s cost Samsung $17 billion in shares and sales (According to analysts cited by Reuters), many analysts predicted that it would be the end of the Note line for Samsung, with many claiming Samsung would discontinue it. However, Samsung proved those claims wrong with record-breaking pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
The Galaxy Note 8
The Galaxy Note 8 comes packed with Snapdragon 835 and 6 GB of ram, the display is 6.3 inches with a resolution of 1440 x 2960. The phone has a dual camera system, one normal and the other a telephoto lens, both cameras are 12mp with an aperture of f1.7 and f2.4 respectively.
The Note 8 holds the title of being the first mobile in the market to have OIS in both its camera. The front camera is 8mp with an aperture of f1.7.
Battery wise, the device is packed with a non-removable 3300 mAH battery. The Note 8 comes in 64 and 128 GB variants and also supports a micro SD card. The device is also water and dust resistant with an IP68 rating.
Many had concerns regarding the Note 8's price, as it would cost at least $1,000, a rather expensive and ridiculous price point, considering the Note 7's failure. But all the concerns were proven wrong once the pre-orders started.
Record Pre-orders
Samsung received over 395,000 pre-orders for the new "Note" device in just a day in South Korea.
In comparison, the Note 7 had only garnered over 380,000 pre-orders over a period of 14 days. This is a staggering difference, especially considering the effect Note 7 had on Samsung's reputation and previous year earnings. Meanwhile, the success is also not only limited to Samsung's home country, in fact, Samsung just announced that the Note 8 is on track to outsell all its predecessors in the US.
Stiff competition
There were many concerns over the fact that the competition is becoming stronger. This year, LG's new V30 flagship has gotten a lot of attention for its spectacular camera, design, and specs. The LG V30 is considered a direct competition of the Note device, especially considering the V30 is cheaper with almost the same specifications.
Also worth mentioning, many users are holding off until the new iPhone releases, and it still not sure how the release of the new iPhone will affect the Note 8 sales further down the quarter.
Even with all the concerns, Samsung has still managed to sell Record Breaking numbers of Note 8's to various markets. The success of the Note 8 comes on par with the record breaking earnings of Samsung the previous quarter, especially due to Samsung's successful semiconductor and OLED business.
