NEGATIVE SHORT TERM IMPACT ON IMAGE AND SALES BUT SITUATION NOT
DESPERATE
Nov 3rd, 2016
Ever since the Galaxy Note 7 recall, sparked by widespread battery failure (which frequently led to property damage
and occasionally injury), there has been a great deal of speculation about how this issue will affect Samsung’s brand
image and future sales of its flagship Galaxy smartphone line.
Qriously, a global mobile survey platform, has conducted the first major consumer survey in the top 5 smartphone
markets (USA, UK, Brazil, India and China) to find out.
More than 1 in 2 smartphone users in these top 5 markets have heard of the recall
Have you heard about the recent Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Recall?
base = Smartphone Users 13+
USA
UNITED KINGDOM
BRAZIL
INDIA
CHINA
n = 1,004
n = 1,069
n = 1,000
n = 999
n = 2,688
Yes
64.9%
66.5%
51.9%
45.3%
54.5%
No
35.1%
33.5%
48.1%
54.7%
45.5%
The awareness is higher in the US and the UK (roughly 2/3rds) and lower in Brazil (52%) and India (45%).
Where did you hear about this recall?
base = Smartphone Users 13+ Who Had Heard of Note 7 Recall
USA
UNITED KINGDOM
BRAZIL
INDIA
CHINA
n = 653
n = 697
n = 548
n = 484
n = 1,617
On TV
61.8%
60.8%
39.3%
38.1%
32.7%
Online
30.0%
30.3%
46.0%
36.7%
65.8%
From friends / family
22.2%
17.5%
26.4%
27.3%
15.9%
In newspapers
15.7%
22.9%
22.8%
22.2%
9.4%
Email from Samsung
2.7%
2.4%
3.2%
3.5%
1.6%
Other
7.8%
8.5%
4.4%
3.9%
3.2%
Don't remember
2.6%
2.6%
1.8%
3.3%
2.0%
TV was the most popular channel to hear the news, except in Brazil and China where the news spread more quickly
online.
www.qriously.com
Smartphone users are most likely to remember that Galaxy Note 7s caught fire
Were you aware of the following facts about the recall?
base = Smartphone Users 13+
USA
UNITED KINGDOM
BRAZIL
INDIA
CHINA
n = 1,004
n = 1,069
n = 1,000
n = 999
n = 2,688
Some phones caught fire
45.0%
49.1%
28.7%
16.5%
28.7%
Note 7s are banned on US
planes
32.6%
24.1%
11.8%
11.8%
23.9%
Production of Note 7 has
stopped
26.9%
26.5%
13.7%
10.5%
13.7%
2nd recall in less than 2
months
24.9%
21.3%
8.4%
9.1%
15.4%
Heard of 1+ Facts
56.4%
57.9%
40.9%
32.2%
46.8%
The number 1 fact recalled about the Galaxy Note 7 crisis is that the phones caught fire - not surprisingly, that headline
caught more attention than similar facts about the recall (e.g. that the recall was the second in two months, or that
production of Note 7s has stopped).
Overall, 34% of smartphone users were aware that Galaxy Note 7s had caught fire.
Consumers in the US and the UK were most well-informed, with over half of smartphone users in each country able to
list at least one relevant fact about the crisis. Consumers in India and Brazil were the least-informed about the crisis.
The Galaxy Note 7 recall doesn’t seem to have affected Samsung’s overall image that much
What is your overall image of Samsung?
base = Samsung-aware Smartphone Users 13+
HAVE HEARD
NOT HEARD
n = 3,998
n = 2,354
Very positive
32.7%
31.5%
Slightly positive
16.9%
17.1%
Neither positive nor negative
27.5%
32.2%
Slightly negative
11.7%
10.4%
Very negative
11.2%
8.7%
Smartphone users who have heard about the recall roughly have the same image of Samsung than those who haven’t
heard; however, a slightly higher proportion say they have a “very negative image” (11.2% vs 8.7%).
www.qriously.com
How likely is it that you would recommend Samsung products to a friend or colleague?
base = Samsung-aware Smartphone Users 13+
HAVE HEARD
NOT HEARD
n = 3,998
n = 2,354
0 - Not likely at all
21.3%
22.1%
1
7.9%
9.0%
2
6.5%
4.8%
3
4.7%
5.5%
4
3.6%
2.9%
5
6.6%
7.4%
6
4.5%
3.3%
7
5.5%
5.6%
8
5.8%
6.1%
9
6.6%
9.0%
10 - Extremely likely
27.1%
24.4%
The NPS Score (Net Promoter Score) is also the same, regardless of whether they have heard of the Note 7 crisis or
not.
But it definitely had some kind of a negative impact
How would you say this series of product recalls has affected the image you had of Samsung?
base = Smartphone Users 13+ Who Had Heard of Note 7 Recall
USA
UNITED KINGDOM
BRAZIL
INDIA
CHINA
n = 653
n = 697
n = 548
n = 484
n = 1,617
Much higher opinion
6.5%
8.4%
13.5%
32.6%
7.4%
Slightly higher opinion
7.5%
8.1%
13.8%
22.1%
9.6%
Same opinion
41.5%
42.2%
35.8%
23.7%
29.5%
Slightly lower opinion
29.0%
26.6%
18.5%
10.9%
26.9%
Much lower opinion
15.5%
14.8%
18.3%
10.7%
26.6%
About 4 in 10 smartphone users who had heard of the recall say the have a lower opinion of samsung after the recall
with 17% having a “much lower opinion”.
China and - to a lesser extent the US - are where consumers’ confidence has been most shaken.
www.qriously.com
A majority of recall-aware smartphone users are now concerned with the safety of
Samsung’s mobile devices, especially in the US and Brazil
To what extent are you personally concerned with the safety of Samsung’s mobile devices (phones and tablets)?
base = Smartphone Users 13+ Who Had Heard of Note 7 Recall
USA
UNITED KINGDOM
BRAZIL
INDIA
CHINA
n = 653
n = 697
n = 548
n = 484
n = 1,617
Very concerned
28.8%
18.6%
28.4%
17.4%
16.5%
Somewhat concerned
27.1%
28.8%
33.2%
34.5%
27.8%
Not very concerned
25.8%
25.9%
20.9%
16.8%
35.0%
Not concerned at all
18.2%
26.7%
17.5%
31.2%
20.7%
56%
47%
62%
52%
44%
Total Concerned
Overall, half of smartphone users who had heard of the recall in these 5 markets are somewhat to very concerned with
the safety of Samsung’s mobile devices.
USA and Brazil show the highest levels of concern about Samsung's mobile device safety (almost 1 in 3 are “very
concerned” vs 22% on average).
Safety concerns extend to other product lines
And to what extent are you concerned with the safety of other Samsung products (Home Electronics / Home
Appliances / TVs..)?
base = Smartphone Users 13+ Who Had Heard of Note 7 Recall
USA
UNITED KINGDOM
BRAZIL
INDIA
CHINA
n = 653
n = 697
n = 548
n = 484
n = 1,617
Very concerned
17.0%
14.6%
20.0%
12.7%
13.1%
Somewhat concerned
24.3%
17.7%
25.4%
32.6%
26.5%
Not very concerned
32.2%
32.5%
29.5%
19.5%
37.3%
Not concerned at all
26.5%
35.2%
25.1%
35.1%
23.0%
41%
32%
45%
45%
40%
Total Concerned
What’s particularly worrying is that smartphone users are also pretty concerned with the safety of other Samsung
products (Home Electronics / Home Appliances / TVs..). 41% of smartphone users who had heard of the recall indicated
that they were somewhat to very concerned with the safety of other Samsung products.
www.qriously.com
Samsung seems to be doing a good job handling the crisis
How well would you say Samsung is handling this crisis so far?
base = Smartphone Users 13+ Who Had Heard of Note 7 Recall
USA
UNITED KINGDOM
BRAZIL
INDIA
CHINA
n = 653
n = 697
n = 548
n = 484
n = 1,617
Very well
18.9%
22.1%
25.6%
35.7%
9.7%
Well enough
36.5%
41.3%
33.7%
39.2%
9.7%
Not very well
15.9%
16.1%
15.5%
8.0%
38.6%
Not well at all
9.1%
7.3%
9.7%
9.0%
17.5%
No opinion
19.6%
13.2%
15.4%
8.1%
24.5%
Overall a majority (54%) of smartphone users who have heard of the recall think Samsung does a good job handling
the crisis but 29% think they're not doing so well.
This varies depending on the market: despite being the most concerned for the safety of Samsung products, Brazilians
are more positive about how Samsung is handling the crisis. Indians were also particularly positive about Samsung's
handling of the crisis.
China was by far the least positive, with a majority saying that Samsung is not handling the crisis well.
Samsung consideration is likely to drop next time consumers upgrade their phone
For your next phone, would you say you are...
base = Smartphone Users 13+
USA
UNITED KINGDOM
BRAZIL
INDIA
CHINA
n = 1,004
n = 1,069
n = 1,000
n = 999
n = 2,688
As likely to consider
Samsung as before
65.2%
69.3%
71.3%
77.4%
56.1%
Slightly less likely to consider
Samsung
11.7%
10.6%
10.8%
5.2%
16.8%
Much less likely to consider
Samsung
10.0%
7.4%
8.2%
7.0%
11.8%
No longer considering
Samsung at all
13.1%
12.8%
9.8%
10.4%
15.2%
Overall, almost a third of all smartphone users said that they would be less likely to consider Samsung.
This sentiment is especially pronounced in China, where 44% of smartphone users said they would be less likely to
consider Samsung. (China also has the lowest proportion of Samsung users currently due to strong Android
competition from Xiaomi and Vivo).
www.qriously.com
For your next phone, would you say you are...
base = Smartphone Users 13+
CURRENT SMARTPHONE BRAND
SAMSUNG
APPLE
OTHER
n = 808
n = 1,667
n = 1,527
As likely to consider Samsung as before
74.7%
48.8%
69.9%
Slightly less likely to consider Samsung
12.7%
14.4%
11.8%
Much less likely to consider Samsung
6.8%
16.7%
7.8%
No longer considering Samsung at all
5.8%
20.1%
10.6%
Perhaps most damning for Samsung, 6% of current Samsung smartphone owners would no longer consider buying a
Samsung phone for their next upgrade.
Methodology
Qriously interviewed 6,760 smartphone users 13+ in the global top 5 smartphone markets (USA, UK, China, India,
Brazil) from 25th October to 27th October.
Data was weighted on gender, age and region in all countries to match census data. (Data was also weighted on
ethnicity in the USA.)
www.qriously.com