Samsung has always had a history of ups and downs, and that was none more evident than in 2016. The year started out remarkably strong for the company, and it put out impressive products that turned out to be huge hits with the buying public. But Samsung pushed its luck and got burned — literally.
Samsung came out the gate running in 2016 with its Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, launched in March. The pair proved to be the best smartphones Samsung had ever made, complete with great design, class-leading cameras, long battery life, and stunning displays. Samsung even brought back fan-favorite features that were dropped from prior phones, such as water resistance and expandable memory.
Samsung pushed its luck and got burned — literally
As a result, the S7 line took off like a rocket, making up for Samsung’s disappointing performance with the S6 and even surpassing the iPhone in sales in competitive markets such as the US. By the middle of the summer, it seemed Samsung could do no wrong.
Samsung was ready to repeat its S7 success in the fall with the Note 7, a beautifully designed phone that would go head to head with Apple’s next iPhone. The Note 7 took everything that was great about the S7 line and made it better: refined design, better software, improved performance. It launched to rave reviews in August, beat the new iPhone to market, and by all accounts, looked like it would sit comfortably at the top of the smartphone rankings for 2016.