It's a shame - are OEMs cutting corners on QA?

[Mike Dee]

Are manufacturers releasing phones too early without sufficient Quality Control testing?
I'm not picking on Sammy here....it just seems that we are seeing and more issues with phones early in their lifecycle and across all brands. The LG G5 had some quality issues in the finish on some early models and there are some reports of flakey GPS performance..
The Note 7 has not been out that long and this issue must be serious enough that they have reason to believe that this will impact many more phones out there. While it's great that Sammy is taking fast action, it makes me wonder if they and other manufacturers need to take a step back and rethink their business model with regard to how they release products. We pay a lot for these devices and we just deserve better.

 

[Laura Knotek]

If they take too long to release products after announcing the products, then customers will complain about the wait.

 

[Mike Dee]

If they take too long to release products after announcing the products, then customers will complain about the wait.

Easy fix....don't announce early. While I realise that competition makes things complicated, the rush to production is not a good thing for the consumer. Time pressure should never be a priority over a quality deliverable.

 

[nahoku]

Manufactures aren't releasing phones every year that have been designed/produced in the year prior... not enough time. If you think about how the Note 5 was released only 10 months after the Note 4, you'd realize they couldn't have done it in that short a time. Anyone familiar with engineering and production will understand the Note 7 (or any newly designed phone) must have been in conception/design/testing/production for at least 2 years... or more. Just the Note 7 GG5 glass procurement alone must have taken close to a year. On the other hand, if you're simply talking about what is "acceptable for release", then yes, they could be cutting corners, or saying, "yah, that's good enough". Tough call when you're into a yearly release.

 

[vespesian]

Nothing is QA'd properly anymore: consumers are basically beta-testers.

 

[toenail_flicker]

If they are, this Sammy recall will give them a bit of a wakeup call.

 

[toenail_flicker]

If they take too long to release products after announcing the products, then customers will complain about the wait.

Better a few complaints than a global recall. jmo

 

[dpham00]

Since this is a general question, but specific to a certain phone , then I will move units to the general discussion section

 

[Golfdriver97]

For the OP, I think each of the instances you mentioned weren't on the shoulders of QA, but the lack of prototype testing.

 

[LeoRex]

I'd have to go back and look, but there have been plenty of QC issues with phones in the past. Bad screens, camera AF that would rattle, loose buttons and crappy charge ports, etc.

The issue here is just that the part that fails, well, just happens to shoot flames.

 

[rahool360]

its seems that way!!!!

 

[samndiaye899]

Do you think that this will affect Apple's sales of their new phone this week.

 

[LeoRex]

Do you think that this will affect Apple's sales of their new phone this week.

I don't think it will all that much... There's always a certain percentage of users that switch platforms, but this won't move the needle all that much. The Note, after all, is only a small percentage of actual smartphone buyers.

 

[Ry]

Do you think that this will affect Apple's sales of their new phone this week.

Sales? Probably not.

But I expect shade to be thrown, just like owners over other Android phones have made disparaging comments about Samsung's current situation.

 

[LeoRex]

Sales? Probably not.

But I expect shade to be thrown, just like owners over other Android phones have made disparaging comments about Samsung's current situation.

I think Apple avoids any perceived slight against Samsung or any QC or support issues... Before the battery issues hit, most of the tech sites were talking about the 'touch disease' story and how Apple was burying any attempt to resolve an issue that had apparently started to be a real pain the butt to iPhone 6 owners. Samsung's problems pushed that story to the back burner.

But if Apple starts taking shots at Samsung... I think they'd get a fair amount of blowback because Samsung not only acknowledged the issue quickly, they took decisive action and pledged to take care of their customers. Which is in stark contrast to Apple, who is still trying to use Jedi Mind Tricks to make the issues with the iPhone 6's control board go away.

 

[Mike Dee]

For the OP, I think each of the instances you mentioned weren't on the shoulders of QA, but the lack of prototype testing.

I never mentioned QA. My title was a statement "It's a shame".
Someone changed the Topic Title to a question: It's a shame - are OEMs cutting corners on QA?

I mentioned QC in my original post, which is part of a QA program as is Prototype testing.