Survey now says 40% of current users will never buy another Samsung phone

A man holds his mobile phone Samsung Galaxy Note 7 at a mobile phone shop in Hanoi, Vietnam October 12, 2016. (REUTERS/Kham)

The Galaxy Note 7 was once widely regarded as Samsung's best smartphone ever. Now, it appears as though Samsung stands to lose a substantial amount of future business thanks to the company's current Note 7 debacle.

A recent survey, which was conducted just after reports of flaming phones forced Samsung to issue a global recall for the Galaxy Note 7, found that one-third of respondents said they would not purchase another Samsung phone. It was immediately clear that the Note 7 ordeal would have an impact on Samsung's image and sales, but now it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better. Following news from earlier this week that the Note 7 has been completely cancelled, a similar survey found that an even higher percentage of current Samsung customer say they'll never buy another smartphone from the company.

The phone was first released in August, but a defect caused some units to explode and the phone had to be recalled. New "safe" units were issued to customers who turned in their potentially faulty phones, but they too began to spontaneously catch fire. After temporarily halting sales for a brief period in order to launch an investigation, Samsung decided instead to issue a second recall and completely cancel the phone.

Customers with first-run units or with newer replacement phones have been instructed to power them down at once and return them to whichever retailer sold them. You can find detailed instructions on how to get a refund in this post.

ECommerce solutions provider Branding Brand just conducted a new survey between October 11th and October 12th following the official discontinuation of Samsung's problematic Galaxy Note 7. The firm surveyed 1,020 US-based consumers who all owned Samsung phones, and it sought to determine how the company's Note 7 fiasco impacted their future purchasing plans.

Forty percent of current Samsung phone owners said that they would not buy another Samsung phone in the future. That figure is up from the 34% who made a similar claim in the company's first survey. Branding Brand said that 46% of respondents had become Samsung smartphone users within the past two years, while more than half -- 54% -- had been loyal Samsung phone owners for three years or more.

Of those who said that they would not be purchasing another Samsung phone moving forward, 8% said they now plan to purchase one of Google's new Pixel phones and 70% said that whatever new phone they purchase will still be an Android phone. Meanwhile, 30% said they plan to leave Android altogether and buy an iPhone.

"Samsung consumers say battery life is a key to their loyalty with the brand; however it's the same reason for the drop in confidence," said Branding Brand CEO Chris Mason. The results of the survey are certainly grim for Samsung, but it remains to be seen how big the impact of this ordeal will really be down the road.