Sunday Snapshot 10/16/16 Note the consequences: Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 debacle is in its twilight hours, with a complete federal flight ban as the latest in a big box of nails securing the lid of the smartphone's coffin. The consequences, in terms of direct financial impact, are said to be in the $3 billion range for Samsung. But the medium- to long-term impact on Samsung's business will provide far more useful insight. 
There's almost no question that Samsung's brand reputation will suffer as a result of the Note 7; mainstream media has been providing dire warnings about the Galaxy Note 7 to people who might not even have paid all that much attention to the manufacturer brand or model name of their smartphone device to begin with. Airports and airlines freely broadcast warnings about the Note 7 before every flight, and I know from personal experience that the people making those announcements aren't always careful about the specifics ("If you have a Samsung phone please power it down and leave it off for the remainder of the flight."), which broadens the brand tarnish. As a measure to stop the bleeding, it's almost certain that Samsung will end the "Note" brand altogether, and that will indeed help protect the core. But that's a move so obvious that even a company with zero ability to navigate crisis management would probably have stumbled upon it in short order. Other measures, like a $100 credit for customers who remain loyal to Samsung by choosing another of its devices for their replacement hardware, and the introduction of a software update for the S7 and S7 Edge that brings one of the Note's best features to that device, show a bit more savvy. Samsung's smart to do both. It also seems to be earnest in its pursuit of a cause, and appears willing to share that data once it discovers what went wrong – transparency in this case would go a long way, since it will show that at least Samsung is able to make sure this specific issue won't repeat in the future. The question is whether Samsung's brand image will have a significant material impact on the trajectory of its fortunes in the next flagship cycle (the S8 or whatever comes next will likely arrive this spring) and whether there's anything Samsung can do to accelerate the pace at which it recovers its brand rep. Its existing standing is already hard-won, after suffering from early poor perception of its quality among North American buyers (mostly from experiences prior to its smartphone days). Having to build that perception back up again when you're trying to defend against the possibility of negative growth, instead of fighting your way up from a position on the periphery, is a very different endeavor. Regardless of what happens next, Samsung's Note 7 ordeal is one for the business school case study books – whether that study ends in success or failure remains to be seen. | 
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