March 29th, 2017

Samsung to sell refurbished Note 7 smartphones but not in the US

Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) has decided to resell refurbished Galaxy Note 7 smartphones (hopefully with new batteries) to customers in emerging markets. Discounts between 30% to 50% of the original price will likely be offered, with speculation that India, Vietnam or Indonesia will be the potential target countries although no specifics have been released by Samsung as to the dates or actual locations involved.  We note that ~3m refurbished Note 7 smartphones will be sold or rented of the ~4m that were recalled (1.9m in the US), and while there are still a few holdouts who refuse to give back their phones (4% in the US), the refurbished phones will not be sold or rented in the US according to Consumer Reports.