Samsung is not the first company to discover that battery life can be a combustible issue. 三星(Samsung)不是第一家找到电池寿命有可能是个烫手问题的企业。Fiery power packs have haunted businesses as diverse as Dell and Boeing in recent years. 近年来，电池短路问题后遗症过从戴尔(Dell)到波音(Boeing)等各类企业。

The latter’s Dreamliner fleet was even grounded in 2013 after the aeroplane’s batteries demonstrated unfortunate incendiary tendencies.2013年，波音的梦想客机(Dreamliner)机型甚至还因电池意外经常出现易燃偏向而遭禁飞。The Korean electronics company now has its very own fully fledged battery flame-out to navigate. 这家韩国电子公司眼下要应付自己的一场由电池造成的全面危机。It has just been forced to halt production of its much-hyped Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after the device was blamed for setting fire to at least one house, a car and a number of alarming incidents where Galaxy Note 7s started smoking on planes when in flight.三星刚不得不暂停生产其被大肆宣传的Galaxy Note 7智能手机，此前这款手机因导致最少一套房屋和一辆车发生爆炸、以及导致一系列在飞行中的飞机上起火的令人惊恐的事件而受到谴责。

It is not the first time Samsung has tried to deal with the problem. 这不是三星第一次企图处置这个问题。The company recalled 2.5m of the devices just five weeks ago after reports of battery fires. 仅有5周前，在经常出现多起电池发生爆炸的报告后，三星解任了250万部Galaxy Note 7。But it then claimed to have fixed the problem and encouraged customers to swap their dodgy phones for new ones. 但之后三星声称早已解决问题了这个问题，并希望消费者将问题手机移位为新机。Now that fix appears to have come unstuck, it had no option but to dump the whole line.现在，所谓的解决问题显然是告终了，三星别无选择，不能退出整条产品线。

That, despite the heavy cost, is the safest option. 尽管这样做到的代价十分高昂，这是最安全性的选项。Defective products — especially when they are potentially dangerous — can take a disproportionate toll on a company’s reputation. 有缺陷的产品——特别是在是当这些缺失包含潜在危险性的时候——可能会对企业声誉带给尤其沈重的压制。

Demonstrating a firm disinclination to risk your customer’s wellbeing is the way to limit reputational damage, as well as the inevitable consumer lawsuits.展现出不愿把客户的福祉置放险地的极力态度，是增加声誉损失以及不可避免的消费者诉讼的方法。The classic example that is often cited is Johnson Johnson, which faced potential disaster in the early 1980s when a malicious attacker poisoned batches of the consumer analgesic, Tylenol. 人们常常提到的经典案例是杜邦(Johnson Johnson)。上世纪80年代初，该公司曾面对一场潜在的灾难。当时，一位蓄意攻击者在多出厂的非处方止痛药泰诺(Tylenol)中下了毒。

The company responded by swiftly pulling all Tylenol products from retailers’ shelves across the country. 回应，该公司的对此方式是很快将全国各地零售商货架上的所有泰诺产品下架。It then repackaged the products, which included the tamper-resistant packaging that is now common. 接着，该公司将这些产品新的纸盒，使用了如今少见的可避免擅自更换内容物的纸盒。Its quick reaction prevented both the need for federal intervention and a public outcry.该公司较慢的反应，既避免了联邦政府介入的必要性，也制止了舆论的反感指责。

Having failed to resolve the problem with its cutting-edge lithium ion battery, Samsung is right to cut its losses. 在没能解决问题其尖端锂离子电池中不存在的问题之后，三星采行止损的办法是对的。Unlike past phones which had removable power packs, the Note 7’s integrated design means that repeated modifications would be cumbersome and costly. 与过去电池消声器的手机有所不同，Note 7电池与机身一体的设计意味著，重复改动将不仅拖沓而且成本极大。Even a fix would not repair the damage to the Note 7 name. 而且，即使修缮了问题，也无法修缮Note 7品牌受到的伤害。The company does not want customers to start asking shop assistants: Which one is the exploding phone?该公司认同不期望看见客户开始问导购：哪一款手机是那个不会发生爆炸的？Recalls are painful, but are survivable by large companies that are not dependent on a single product line. 解任是十分伤痛的，但是对于不依赖单一产品线的大企业来说，是可以一挺过去的。

Both Toyota and Merck have suffered financial losses as a result of massive product recalls. 丰田(Toyota)和默克(Merck)都曾因大规模产品解任而遭遇财务上的损失。Still, long-term trends suggest that both companies’ reputations and stock prices bounced back. 然而，长期趋势表明，两家企业的声誉和股价都声浪回去了。Samsung is at least well insulated from any financial fallout. The company is sitting on a cash pile of some $59bn.三星最少不必担忧解任造成任何根本性财务影响——该公司目前仍坐拥约590亿美元现金。

Samsung should remember how it started out in the mobile business, which took off in the 1990s after its chairman Lee Kun-hee demonstrated his zero tolerance approach to faulty handsets. 三星应当忘记它在手机业务上是如何发家的。该公司手机业务在上世纪90年代的降落，是由于此前其董事长李健熙(Lee Kun-hee)表明了对问题手机零容忍的处理方式。

He piled up 150,000 defective phones outside a factory and had them publicly incinerated. 他在一家工厂外冲刷了15万部有问题的手机，并将它们公开发表付之一炬。A re-run with the Note 7 would do Mr Lee’s successors little harm.在Note 7上再度施展这一招，从将来来看对三星将没什么坏处。

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