Partners: Samsung Gets Credit For Quickly Taking Responsibility Over Galaxy Note7 Issues

While Samsung Electronics is dealing with highly publicized quality issues over its Galaxy Note7 smartphone, solution providers say the company deserves credit for responding quickly and taking action as reports surfaced about the device.

Samsung said Friday it’s halting sales of the Galaxy Note7 and replacing any devices that have already been sold, after discovering an issue with the smartphone’s battery. In a statement, Samsung didn't give specifics about the problems found with the Galaxy Note7, saying only that "in response to recently reported cases of the new Galaxy Note7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue." Several reports had previously indicated that Galaxy Note7 devices had caught fire while charging their batteries.

"A lot of manufacturers try to deny it [when issues are reported]. They say, 'Oh, it’s just a couple of devices.’ And then it gets to be a bigger problem," said Steven Kantorowitz, president of CelPro Associates, a Samsung partner based in New York. "I think Samsung’s doing the right thing by saying, ’We have a problem and we’re going to take care of it.'"

[Related: Review: 4 Reasons Why We Still Love Samsung's Galaxy Note7 (Despite The Recall)]

Kantorowitz pointed to Apple’s handling of issues with its iPhone 4 antenna, which was widely seen as delivering sub-par reception, but which Apple repeatedly denied was an issue in the weeks after its launch in 2010.

"That just made Apple look bad at the time," Kantorowitz said, while by contrast, "I think people will respect Samsung for doing [the recall], because they’re taking responsibility for a problem that they recognize."

In a statement Friday, Samsung said that "because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note7. For customers who already have Galaxy Note7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks."

Paul Troisi, chief customer officer of Troy Mobility, a solution provider based in Peabody, Mass., said he agrees that Samsung is taking the right approach by accepting responsibility for the issues.

’It’s a very difficult thing for any organization — especially an organization the size of Samsung — to be able to immediately say, ’We have a problem; let’s go back and fix it.’ That absolutely shows a strong focus on the consumer and the enterprise,’ said Troisi, whose firm specializes in enterprise mobility solutions, including for Samsung devices.

Given the relatively small number of defective Galaxy Note7 smartphones — Samsung said it found 35 devices that were affected by battery issues — Samsung "easily could’ve shoved it under the rug," Troisi said. "They could’ve said, ’It was just an anomaly in manufacturing.’ Instead they publicly said, ’We think we’ve identified a problem, let’s fix it.’ I think that’s a pretty good stance."

Samsung had launched sales of the Galaxy Note7 on Aug. 19 in the U.S.

The 5.7-inch Galaxy Note7 includes a number of features aimed at drawing interest for use in business, including iris scanning as an option for user authentication and a digital pen for writing on the device.