The final chapter of Samsung’s lengthy Note 7 saga apparently has yet to be written. Following pressure from environmental groups that culminated with a on-site protester at the company’s Mobile World Congress press event, Samsung has confirmed its intentions to re-release the Note 7 back into the wild in refurbished form.
After announcing last year that it would simply “safely dispose of the phones,” the company today addressed plans to offer them back to the public in a newer, safer form. The move is an attempt to address vocal environmental concerns over its initial plans to trash a whole bunch of handsets all at once, no matter how safe it insisted the process would be.
“The objective of introducing refurbished devices is solely to reduce and minimize any environmental impact,” a spokesperson for the company told TechCrunch. Samsung is still hammering out the details of the resale, which will depend on, among other things, conversations with carriers and local authorities.
Though the company did hasten to add that it won’t be bringing the handset back to the States in refurbished form. “The product details including the name, technical specification and price range will be announced when the device is available,” the statement continues. “Samsung will not be offering refurbished Galaxy Note 7 devices for rent or sale in the US.”
Great news! Because of your action, Samsung will recycle MILLIONS of recalled Galaxy Note 7 phones. https://t.co/q1qFwbUIHM #SaveTheGalaxy pic.twitter.com/VABLsXvh2a
— Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) March 27, 2017
The device is rumored to be arriving with a smaller capacity battery, in order to avoid the mistakes that got the company in hot water with two separate recalls during the seemingly endless saga, though Samsung is also apparently still working on those spec specifics.
Of course, this is likely the last thing (or second to last, perhaps) the company wants to be discussing during such an important week for the brand. On Wednesday, Samsung’s set to announce the Galaxy S8, its first major release since everything went down with the Note 7.
Samsung has spent the months in the lead up to the release of its new handset pushing its newly instituted safety precautions, starting with a global press conference in which it discussed its findings and culminating with an aggressive ongoing ad campaign. At the very least, it’s likely managed to avoid a repeat of February’s press conference protester.
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