Apple iPhone
Apple iPhone (Representational picture)REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

The debacle of the Galaxy Note 7 has not only affected the business of Samsung but also damaged the brand to some extent. But the company has been maintaining that most buyers of the ill-fated device have opted for an exchange with the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge. It may or may not be true, but one can't deny that its rivals, especially Apple's iPhone 7 could have benefited from the Galaxy Note 7 failure.

The International Data Corporation (IDC) has said that half the users of the Galaxy Note 7 who took part in its survey have claimed to have opted for an iPhone, while 17 percent said they would choose another Samsung device. A total of 1,082 US consumers were surveyed online on October 17 and 18.

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Tom Mainelli, program vice president for Devices at IDC, has said that its survey has indicated a timely recovery for the Samsung brand.

"While Samsung is clearly going to experience some issues in the market this year, respondents in our survey seemed to indicate that the broader Samsung brand should weather this current storm fairly well," said Tom. "Beyond the impact on Samsung, this wider mobile industry should be paying close attention to how the public responds to this issue as well as considering how it will address the broader challenge of powering ever thinner devices."

A finding by IDC has said that market leaders -- Apple and Samsung – took a nosedive in the third quarter of 2016 in terms of sales. Samsung's shipment volume during the period was 72.5 million compared to 83.8 million in the corresponding period last year, which is a 13.5 percent fall. Apple also faced a 5.3 percent in shipment volume, managing to sell only 45.5 million units in Q3 2016 compared to 48 million in Q3 2015.

Interestingly, a few Chinese companies have witnessed a 100 plus percent growth in smartphone segment. Huawei has put up a 23 percent growth in Q3 2016 (year on year), while Oppo has made a whopping 121.6 percent growth and Vivo 102.5 percent, according to IDC.

[Source: IDC]