Skip to main content

Apple could gain 5-7 million users due to Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, analyst says

apple overtakes samsung store
Adrianhancu/123RF
While Samsung may be going through one of the worst public relations disasters its mobile division has had, Apple will most likely cash in over the situation — big time. Samsung has cancelled all production of the Galaxy Note 7, essentially meaning customers either have to choose another Samsung phone, or get a refund and get their phone from another manufacturer.

According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, that manufacturer will be Apple for as many as 5 million to 7 million people. The report suggests that millions of people will flock to the iPhone 7 Plus because of the dual camera, which makes the Plus an attractive buy for many people that might have bought the Note 7 for its camera in the first place.

Recommended Videos

What the report means is that as many as 50 percent of Galaxy Note 7 buyers could be convinced to switch over to an iPhone — originally as many as 12 million Galaxy Note 7s were sold. The other 50 percent of buyers will be shared among manufacturers like Huawei and Google, which is selling its first ever self-built device.

Of course, it is difficult to tell exactly how buyers of the Galaxy Note 7 will react to the situation. Many users have declined to turn in their device despite that it could catch fire without warning. While Kuo says that that the issue will not affect Samsung for more than a few months, the report notes that another series of similar issues could be disastrous to the Samsung brand as a top-tier phone manufacturer.

Apple stock has soared over the past few weeks — largely due to the Galaxy Note 7 issues. Apple will likely see an excellent fourth quarter of 2016 and even first quarter of 2017. We may begin to see the effects of the Galaxy Note 7 issues on Apple when Apple reports its earnings to investors on October 25.

Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…
Tim Cook wants you to know he’s confident in Apple’s AI future
Apple's September 2023 event Tim Cook

If you own an iPhone 16 series, you likely purchased it to be among the first to use Apple Intelligence. However, a month after the latest iPhones were released, this highly anticipated AI suite from the largest company in the world has not yet been released to the public. Tim Cook thinks the wait will be worth it.

In a long-ranging interview with The Wall Street Journal, the Apple CEO defends his company’s speed at which it is introducing AI into its products. He also sees a bright future for Apple Vision, even though the first product in a likely series of alternate reality devices, the very expensive Apple Vision Pro, has largely failed to catch on with most users.

Read more
Apple Intelligence is right around the corner, with a few absent perks
Apple Intelligence update on iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Back in September. Apple announced that its suite of next-gen AI features would make their way to supported hardware in October. Today, Bloomberg reports that rollout of those AI features – clubbed under the Apple Intelligence banner – will begin on October 28.

The AI toolkit will arrive with the iOS 18.1 update for the iPhone 15 Pro pair, the entire iPhone 16 series, and iPads with M1 (or newer) silicon in the series. Unfortunately, this is not the full Apple Intelligence package that the company announced a while ago.

Read more
The first iOS 18 update fixes a major bug with Apple’s Passwords app
An iPhone showing the Apple Password app.

Apple has finally introduced iOS 18.0.1 and iPadOS 18.0.1, the first software updates for iOS 18 and iPadOS 18. Although this iOS 18.1, which will brng the Apple Intelligence update that many have been waiting for, it’s important nonetheless.

The iOS 18.0.1 update fixes a pesky bug in Apple’s new Password app. As the iOS 18.0.1 change notes explain, there was an issue where the Password app could inadvertently use VoiceOver to read out passwords. No doubt, this is a bug no one wants to see, and now it’s squashed.

Read more