With Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 Gone, Can Other Android Phablets Step Up?

Just recently, Samsung has decided, once and for all, to completely and permanently stop all production and sales of its latest phablet, the Galaxy Note 7. With the Galaxy Note 7 out of the picture, conventional wisdom holds that Apple’s new iPhone 7 models will now fill the void vacated by Samsung’s flagship device. According to a recent research note, however, other Android powered devices could stand to gain more than the latest iPhones.

Indeed, industry watchers at Wells Fargo Equity Research believe that other Android phablets (specifically devices that sport a 5.7 inch or larger display screen) could enjoy more attention (and therefore, better sales) with the Galaxy Note 7 no longer in contention in the phablet market. This is, of course, assuming that Android mobile users will continue to remain with Android. Well known phone maker brands that currently 5.7 inch phablets include LG, Motorola, and Kyocera, just to name a few.

And let us not forget Google, whose new releases, the Pixel and the Pixel XL, are sure to gain some traction sales wise going into the holiday shopping season. Strictly speaking, the bigger Pixel XL is only at 5.5 inches, but it does look like one of the best alternative candidates for those looking to purchase a Galaxy Note 7 but have changed their minds. 

To date, Samsung is still considered the biggest seller of smartphone devices in the world. For sure, what happened with its Galaxy Note 7 will continue to hurt, and some analysts are now wondering how it will affect the South Korean mobile giant’s showing in the long run. The company obviously has a smaller margin for error now -- it simply can not afford to have another Galaxy device fail the way its latest phablet has. Plus, with its reputation for quality being questioned, Samsung now needs to be more aggressive more than ever to persuade consumers that, yes, it still offers some of the best smartphones out in the market. 

As explained by Avi Greengart, the research director of consumer devices at Current Analysis, there is really only a trio of phone makers that make money when it comes to high end smartphones in the world -- Samsung, Apple, and Huawei. In the US, it is basically just Samsung and Apple. For everyone else, the struggle is real. Still, even if Apple does not end up gaining more from Samsung’s phablet troubles, at least it now has one less phablet competitor to worry about heading to the holidays.