, Columnist
Samsung's Biggest Mistake
The phone maker intentionally made devices that were beyond repair. Now it's paying the price.
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This week, Samsung representatives are standing by at some of the world's busiest airports, ready to exchange Galaxy Note 7 phones for something new and less combustible. After dozens of fires, two recalls and the complete cancellation of the product, the U.S. government on Saturday warned that anyone knowingly bringing a Galaxy Note 7 and its potentially explosive battery onto a plane could be subject to criminal prosecution.
There's plenty of reason to blame Samsung for this debacle. It rushed the phone to market. It didn't subject the batteries to independent testing, as its competitors routinely do. It was slow to acknowledge the scale of the problem. And it failed to properly coordinate its response with regulators.