Galaxy Note 7 Pre-Order Customers Finally Hear From Samsung; Offered Galaxy S7 Phones and Freebies

Samsung on Friday offered alternative phones to its India customers who had pre-ordered its flagship Galaxy Note 7 devices, in a bid to appease loyal clients in one of its largest smartphone markets.

The world's largest phone maker has been hit by an avalanche of negative publicity, after being forced to recall millions of the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 devices and later scrap the high-end phone altogether.

(Also see: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Recall: The Name That Wasn't Meant to Be)

India is one of the world's largest and fastest growing smartphone markets and a critical one for Samsung as it is the No. 1 player in the nation with a roughly 25 percent market share.

The device that had been set to go on sale in India in early September ended up not getting to any Indian customers after it failed to resolve overheating problems which caused some of the phones to ignite.

The company initially apologised to customers for the delay in the Galaxy Note 7, and in a release late on Friday it said for those who had pre-booked devices, in lieu of the Galaxy Note 7 it would offer customers either its Galaxy S7, or Galaxy S7 Edge devices.

(Also see: Galaxy Note 7 Fiasco Could Burn a $17 Billion Hole in Samsung Accounts)

It also offered affected clients a free set of its virtual reality headsets, a free pair of wireless headphones, a voucher worth about $50, along with a free one-time screen replacement in case of any damage to the new smartphone within a year.

In a separate statement Samsung also questioned analyst estimates on the extent of the impact on revenue in India from the Galaxy Note 7 debacle.

"We can confirm that contrary to these reports, we are headed for record sales of mobile phones this year," the company said in the statement.

Earlier on Friday, Samsung said however that it expected to take a hit to its operating profit of about $3 billion over the next two quarters due to the discontinuation of the Galaxy Note 7.

(Also see: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Explosion Cause to Be Revealed in the 'Coming Weeks')

© Thomson Reuters 2016