Samsung might be making the Galaxy Note 8 after all

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Galaxy Note 7

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It appears as though Samsung might be continuing its line of Galaxy Note smartphones, despite earlier reports from the Korea Herald that the the Galaxy Note 7 was to be the last after its expensive recall.

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In a statement to Reuters regarding a new upgrade program in South Korea for those who traded in faulty Note 7 devices with Galaxy S7 devices, Samsung let slip its plans to continue the Galaxy Note line with the Note 7's successor, the Note 8.

Here's Samsung's statement to Reuters (emphasis ours):

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In a statement on Monday, Samsung said customers who trade in their Note 7 phone for either a flat-screen or curved-screen version of the Galaxy S7 can trade up for a Galaxy S8 or Note 8 smartphone launching next year through an upgrade program.

This contradicts the Korea Herald's reports that Samsung is dropping the Galaxy Note line to focus its efforts on the Galaxy S flagship line to "ensure quality control."

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Indeed, Samsung clearly faced quality control issues when developing the Note 7, so it wasn't totally outlandish to think it would redirect its focus on a single flagship device per year rather than split its attention between two.

However, it was reported by the Wall Street Journal on Monday that Samsung claims it still doesn't know what caused the Note 7's battery to catch fire. The primary theory behind the Note 7's faulty batteries so far is that Samsung "rushed" its development to bring it to market before Apple's announcement of the iPhone 7.

Either way, let's hope they figure out the cause of the problem before the release of the Galaxy Note 8.