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.
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.
