Someone’s been doing some quick thinking at Samsung.
The company this week confirmed its successful Galaxy S7 Edge is getting a Blue Coral makeover as it looks to recover from its recent Note 7 recall stumble.
Launched on Tuesday, the new color edition of the S7 Edge carries the blue hue originally reserved as a Note 7 exclusive. The device was originally offered in Black Onyx, Gold Platinum, White Pearl, Silver Titanium and Pink Gold. Instead of being a solid color like its predecessors, though, the new blue version of the device also features a gold bezel edge, creating a two-tone effect Samsung dubbed “calming and sophisticated.”
Samsung said specific availability details will be announced by each market’s wireless providers, but it seems like the release will come just in time for the holiday season.
Though probably less effective than having a brand new device on shelves, the move might allow Samsung to recoup some of the $5.4 billion in losses from its decision to kill the new Note 7 after battery issues forced back-to-back recalls. Samsung is no doubt hoping a fresh color will reignite some of the wild success the S7 and S7 Edge saw earlier this year.
According to Strategy Analytics figures, the S7 Edge and S7 were the number one and number three top selling Android smartphones in the first half of 2016, thanks in part to massive marketing campaigns around the device. Approximately 13.3 million S7 edge units were shipped through June, while Samsung shipped around 11.8 million units of the S7. Both devices were unveiled at Mobile World Congress in February, giving sales a head start ahead of Apple’s spring iPhone update.
Samsung tried the same advance release strategy with the Note 7 to beat the iPhone 7, but the device’s recall issues doused ice water on any spark of interest that may have been ignited in consumers.
The question now is whether a new S7 color will be enough to hold customer interest through the holidays until the next update.
