Samsung Rank Drops To No. 49 In 2017 Survey Due To Galaxy Note 7 Mess, Vice Chairman's Arrest

In the recent 2017 Reputation Quotient Ratings by Harris Poll, Samsung ranked No. 49 after getting the third place two years ago. The company's reputation ranking was affected largely by the Galaxy Note 7 incidents and the arrest of its vice chairman. The company is now seeking to regain its former good standing in the tech industry.

Many big companies dropped several numbers in the most recent survey. From second place to fifth, Apple went down several notches. Google also went from third to eighth place. This greatly affects the company's sales in the past year, but their problems seem simple compared to Samsung, which now sits at No. 49. It's a huge 46 level drop.

The Korea Herald reported that the damage to Samsung's reputation was done by the Galaxy Note 7. During its initial release, there were already a lot of problems that the users encountered. Some of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 units exploded and caused harm. Others just didn't work right. They were eventually recalled.

Aside from that, Samsung vice chairman, Lee Jae-yong, was arrested on grounds of bribery, embezzlement, and perjury. This was a huge blow to the company's 79 years of good reputation as Lee was the first Samsung leader to be imprisoned. Suh Yong-gu, a professor of marketing at Sookmyung Women's University, said that Samsung will have to produce a better gadget to gain back its costumers' trust.

Lee's arrest also means that Samsung will have to make a better effort at transparency and honesty in its business. According to Softpedia, Samsung has started doing just that. The company has released reports regarding quality assurance tests for new products, especially the upcoming Galaxy S8.

While Samsung dropped several ranks below, Amazon still remains on top. Netflix is at No. 18 while Microsoft is at No. 20. Facebook, meanwhile, has ranked No. 66 among the top 100 companies included in the survey, which was conducted with the participation of 2.3 million consumers.