(LEAD) Recall of Note 7 may cut Samsung's H2 operating profit by 820 bln won

(ATTN: ADDS sales of refurbished smartphones in last 8 paras)

SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Yonhap) -- The mass recall of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones over faulty batteries is expected to cut Samsung Electronics Co.'s second-half operating profit by about 820 billion won (US$738.2 million), an analyst said Monday.

Samsung announced a global recall of the Note 7 smartphones on Friday after some of their batteries caught fire while being charged. Samsung also decided to replace all Note 7 smartphones sold to customers with new ones.

Hwang Min-sung, the analyst at Samsung Securities, said he expects the recall and the replacement program to cost about 120 billion won.

Most of the Note 7 devices that will be produced in September are likely to be used for the replacement program, reducing the estimated sales target for the Note 7 to 3 million units from 6 million units for the third quarter, Hwang said.

"In this case, it could cut Samsung's operating profit by 400 billion won, given its operating margin and selling prices," Hwang said.

In the fourth quarter, the recall is estimated to cost about 300 billion won, Hwang said.

Hwang maintained that the target price of Samsung Electronics shares is 1,800,000 won per share, citing strong sales of the Galaxy S7 smartphones and rising prices of memory chips.

"The recall is a negative factor in the short term but will surely be a wise decision because other alternative measures are unlikely to help Samsung regain confidence from consumers and investors," Hwang said, adding that investors are likely to "positively" react to the recall.

Meanwhile, Samsung has launched a program in U.S. online markets to sell refurbished versions of its Galaxy S4, S5, S6, S6 Edge, Note 3 and Note 4 smartphones since last Friday, according to a company official.

The refurbished smartphones refer to those that are returned to a manufacturer for technical issues, but are repaired and available for sale again.

The refurbished Samsung smartphones are being sold throughout online shopping sites in the U.S. at prices 30 percent to 50 percent lower than their original retail value.

As for a refurbished version of the S6 Edge 32GB model, it is priced at $449.99, compared with its original price of $644.99.

An official at Samsung said, "It is true that refurbished smartphones have been sold in the U.S. since Sept. 2."

"It has not been decided whether sales of refurbished smartphones would be expanded into global markets or whether the Galaxy Note 7 would be included into the mix of refurbished phones," the official said.

There has been speculation that Samsung may sell refurbished versions of the Note 7 smartphones that are returned to the company via the replacement program.

During a press conference on Friday, Koh Dong-jin, head of Samsung's handset business division, told reporters that no decision was made yet on whether Note 7 would be added to the list of Samsung's refurbished smartphones.
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