Two months before the launch of the Galaxy Note 8, Samsung re-launches the Note 7 in Korea

It's been a year since the ill-fated Galaxy note 7 smartphone was launched and subsequently recalled, but Korean electronics giant Samsung is bringing the Note 7 back with a new price and a new name. Now called the Samsung Galaxy Note Fandom Edition, the phablet will go on sale in Korea on July 7th for US$600.

The Galaxy Note Fandom Edition (FE) will be the same Note 7 from last year, only with a smaller battery and some updated software features. Still, with only two months before the launch of the Galaxy Note 8, people are sure to scratch their heads wondering why Samsung has bothered with the re-launch. There are a couple reasons it makes sense: Firstly, Samsung lost a huge amount of money (estimated around US$10 billion) on the production and subsequent recalls of the Note 7; the FE is made from unopened and unused Note 7 parts, which means Samsung gets to make use of its otherwise dead inventory and sunken costs. Secondly, the price point of the Galaxy Note FE is only US$600, and while the Galaxy Note 8 is launching August 26th, the latest rumors point to a price north of US$1100. Samsung knows that the bitter pill of the Note 8's price will be too hard for some to swallow, and reselling refurbished Note 7 units for roughly half the price of an S8 will fill that price niche nicely.

Samsung has stated that they have produced 400,000 units for sale in South Korea, but more may be offered internationally if the reception is positive enough.