Samsung Blesses Apple Inc. With 5-7million Switchers.

What more can you say when the plans of your opponents to outshine you now leads to your increment?

In a race to overthrow the phone making business and to beat Apple Inc., iPhone 7 with its latest flagship (Galaxy Note 7), Samsung has indirectly turned to a blessing for its close competitor, by adding to the list of iPhone 7 consumers in this year, and probably for years to come.


A new report from International Data Corporation (IDC), with the view to determine the impact of Samsung’s recall of its defective smartphone, the Galaxy Note 7, a survey shows around half of those affected plan to switch to an iPhone.

Some key results from the survey include:
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.


While IDC with its report concludes that Apple is at least in some way a beneficiary from the exploding device whose sales & production has been halted, Apple sanctimoniously said during its recent Q4 earnings call that it (the exploding device's recall) currently was not a factor as it is already shipping as many phones as it can make. However, the company later mentioned a record number of Android switchers during Q4, which paints a different picture for a possible long-term benefit from the Note 7 recall.


IDC surveyed 1,082 U.S. consumers through an online survey on October 17th and 18th, four days after Samsung decided to halt sale & production on the Note 7. The survey focused on three groups of consumers: Current Samsung smartphone owners (507), Past Samsung smartphone owners (347), and Smartphone owners who have never owned the Samsung brand (228). Due to the limited installed base, just 24 Note 7 users were captured in the survey; as such, data in those questions should be viewed as directional only.


Also, according to 9to5Mac, an estimate from analysts at KGI predicted that Apple could benefit from around 5-7 million users switching to iPhone 7 following the Note 7 recall. That number is somewhat in tally with the survey from IDC today, with the 5-7 million switchers representing around half of the approximately 12 million Note 7 orders.


"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, IDC.