In the aftermath of the Note 7 debacle, many wondered whether the Note line was done for good. It seems that the latest iteration — despite carrying a high starting price of $930 — has delivered a win for the folks at Samsung. Today, they announced that its pace for U.S. pre-orders of the Note8 have eclipsed those of every other Note release to date.
Now, generally that’s the case with every follow-up to flagship phones from Apple, Samsung and a select few others, but the fact that Samsung was able to put Explodegate behind it in such quick order, largely — I would imagine — thanks to the device’s huge new 6.3″ infinity display, is pretty impressive.
Once recalls were put in place for the Note 7 about a month after it first went on sale in 2016, there were 1 million devices that had to be returned, so that gives us some rough idea to the phone’s early sales.
“We’re thrilled to see the strong consumer response to the next level Note,” Samsung exec Tim Baxter said in a statement.
In my colleague Brian Heater’s review of the device, he declared, “The Note is back, and that’s good news for those who had to give up their beloved device, kicking and screaming. Samsung’s a bit wiser for its sins of the past, and the product is now subject to some of the industry’s most rigorous testing.”
The Note8 will be available in retail stores starting September 15, which is incidentally the same day that the official U.S. recall of the Note 7 was put in place.