THE PUBLIC BLOWBACK against the iPhone 7 and AirPods was overshadowed by the ongoing turmoil engulfing Apple’s biggest competitor. Samsung recalled 2.5 million phones with faulty batteries and replaced them with phones with batteries from a different supplier. Then the replacement phones began overheating, and Samsung was forced to issue a second recall, an embarrassment that led some inside the company to darkly joke that the Note 7 was a topic too hot to touch. The mistakes cost Samsung at least $5 billion plus tremendous damage to its reputation.
