INQUISITR.COM / Science & Tech

Samsung ‘Glossy Black’ Galaxy S7 Edge Due To Launch In Time For Christmas

By Darien Cavanaugh
Published on: 20:06 PST, Nov 25, 2016

Samsung is expected to launch a new color, “Glossy Black,” for its Galaxy S7 in early December, according to a report from the International Business Times.

The Glossy Black launch is aimed at making the Galaxy S7 more competitive with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, which is available in two different black finishes — Matte Black and Jet Black.

Samsung doesn’t have a flagship smartphone after recalling its Galaxy Note 7 in early September due to widespread reports that batteries in Note 7s were overheating, smoking, and even causing the devices to catch fire. The Los Angeles Times estimates that the recall will cost Samsung at least $5.3 billion.

The recall has also made it difficult for Samsung to compete with Apple’s iPhone in the smartphone market heading into the holiday season.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, Samsung was knocked out of the second-place slot in smartphone profitability for the third quarter of 2016, which ended on September 30. Chinese telecommunications company Huawei replaced Samsung at No. 2 for the first time ever. The Chinese companies Vivo and OPPO came in third and fourth, in terms of realized operating profits, for the third quarter. Apple’s iPhone, of course, came in first, taking the lion’s share — 91 percent — of the smartphone market’s profits.

The recall certainly played a role in Samsung’s decline in smartphone profitability rankings. Offering a new color option could help Samsung improve sales and rebound in the smartphone market.

As the International Business Times’ Ken Manbert Salcedo notes, Samsung has already seen some success with rolling out new color options for the Galaxy S7, even though that model of the phone has been available for nine months.

“Earlier this month, the South Korean company introduced the ‘Coral Blue’ color option for the Galaxy S7,” Salcedo writes. “Samsung has been selling an average of almost 15,000 blue Galaxy S7 units a day. Coral Blue was one of the original color options exclusively available for the Note 7.”

However, Samsung might not find as much success with the Glossy Black option since they already offer the Onyx Black color, which is supposed to be a matte black but is actually rather glossy itself.

“The only thing that’s never been black on the Galaxy S7 is its gray silver metal frame,” Salcedo says. “It’s possible that Samsung will make the new glossy black Galaxy S7 stand out by having a black metal frame.”

With the Samsung Galaxy S8 not due for release until 2017, having more color options of the Galaxy S7 certainly won’t hurt Samsung going into the holiday season.

There is one possible area where the Glossy Back Galaxy could even outshine the Jet Black iPhone.

“No doubt the first thing the geekerati will want to check out is if the S7 Edge Glossy is as scratch prone as the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus’ shiny coating,” writes Ewan Spence in a Forbes article. “At the launch of the latter devices, Apple warned the public that the smartphones would ‘pick up micro abrasions‘ and everyone should buy a case for their new fashionable phone. If Samsung has a more robust surface, then the South Korean company can chalk that up as a win in the ‘exotic materials’ column.”

Spence describes the decision to introduce a new color option before the holidays as “a classic marketing trick.”

A separate article by Spence for Forbes underscores that Samsung still receives high consumer confidence ratings despite all the negative publicity generated by the S7 Note recall. That’s certainly good news for the people at Samsung after losing what the company hoped would be its new flagship smartphone in such a massive recall.

The exact date of the release of the Glossy Black Samsung Galaxy S7 has not been announced.

[Featured Image by Gabriel Grams/Getty Images for Samsung]

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