Polls are a curious thing as they generally get the opinion of a small group of people and apply it to the broader picture. Usually polls are extracted from hundreds or thousands of interviewed consumers but International Data Corporation (IDC) seems to only have had time to interview 24 people. When I read the headline over at 9to5 Mac that half of Note7 users polled were going to switch to iPhone I had to check it out for myself. Polls are already a “take with a grain of salt” kind of thing but this particular one requires a few more grains.
Some key results from the survey include:
- Half of the 24 Note 7 owners polled said they have or will choose an Apple iPhone to replace their recalled phone, while 17% said they would choose another Samsung. Most said they will return their phone through a carrier’s physical store.
- The Note 7 recall doesn’t appear to be harming the broader Samsung brand so far. A majority of respondents said it would not impact future decisions to buy other, non-smartphone Samsung products such as televisions and appliances.
- Survey participants’ view of Samsung’s response to the Note 7 recall was largely neutral to positive; surprisingly about 13% hadn’t heard about the recall when polled.
“The Note 7 recall along with all its repercussions, represents a significant event in the world of consumer electronics,” said Anthony Scarsella, research manager, Mobile Phones. “Although the recall may have an adverse impact on the brand in the short term, the truth is that Samsung remains the clear market leader in the worldwide smartphone market. Moving forward, Samsung will need to put the Note 7 to rest as quickly as possible and focus all efforts on producing a stellar Galaxy S8 come next spring. If successful, consumers will quickly forget the Note 7 fiasco if the upcoming S8 can deliver on all fronts.”
While some polls are useful and can be used on occasion to determine market trends and consumer direction, this particular poll just seems sort of worthless. IDC clearly indicates that Samsung is still the worldwide leader in the smartphone market and the Note7 impact is short term. I’ve said it myself that Samsung can recover from the Note7 debacle and IDC echoes what we’ve said in the past. Samsung needs to move past the Note7, take care of any consumers adversely affected by it and move on to making the best S8 they can.
[button link=”https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/28/idc-survey-galaxy-note-switchers-iphone-apple/” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: 9to5 Mac[/button] [button link=”http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161028005698/en/IDC-Survey-Assess-Damage-Samsung-Brand-Note” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: BusinessWire[/button]Last Updated on January 23, 2017.
