Samsung operating profit DOWN FALL 30% in wake of Note 7 fiasco

South Korean technology giant Samsung has seen profits plunge after the recall of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.

Operating profit between July and September fell 30% from a year before to 5.2tn won ($4.6bn, £3.8bn) – the lowest level in two years.

The world’s biggest smartphone maker discontinued making the Note 7 after they came to know cells are catching fire.

Meanwhile the company’s shareholders have backed Samsung heir apparent Lee Jae-yong joining the board.

He is grandson of the business’s founder Lee Byung-chull.

The appointment has been seen as a big important step towards his complete control of the family-run group.

But the appointment of Mr Lee has raised some questions from critics who say he has not held any major function at the business and was taking a place on the board through birth instead of by value.

Recalling and then scrapping the Note 7, which competed with Apple’s iPhone, has been seen as a blow for the business’s reputation for quality and dependability.

Samsung said its mobile phone unit would now focus on “expanding sales of new main products… as well as recovering consumers’ trust.”

Nonetheless its next major handset start, the Galaxy 8 isn’t expected until next year.

“Samsung has lost consumer confidence, but I think it still has at least one more chance. Rather than dashing to release the following product, it should run a comprehensive review and describe the results of its investigation into the Note 7,” said Greg Roh, an analyst at HMC Investment Securities.