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Samsung Note 7 User Base Still Larger Than LG V20, OnePlus 3T Combined (indianexpress.com)
Even after two months of an official global recall for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, 10 percent of the units sold are still in use. From a report: Research firm Apteligent reports that the number of Galaxy Note 7 phones in use outnumbers LG V20 and OnePlus 3T combined. According to 9to5Mac, which has shared details from Apteligent's research, while the Moto Z beats the Galaxy Note 7 in terms of usage, the margin is quite low.
The report also adds that flagship smartphones such as Google Pixel, Pixel XL and Sony Xperia XZ which were announced around the same time as Note 7's recall have managed to outnumber its user base.
As anecdotal evidence (which as one data point, isn't worth much) I just returned my Note 7 last week and had been actively using it until then with no issue. The main decision to do so was monetary incentive benefits outweighing costs.
I believe the core problem is, as often the case, cultural. We are extremely risk adverse and have been trained to be risk adverse in all aspects of our life. Coupled with that, most people cannot assess real risk factors they deal with daily (e.g., driving) to understand just how dangerous things are comparatively. Any failure to mitigate risk, no matter how minuscule, is socially shunned by others to perpetuate this state (and to inflate egos, "well I would have NEVER done that" .. "can you believe how irresponsible").
It radiates into many aspects of our lives from what I've seen. From education (test scores, grade inflation,etc.) and investment behavior (often avoiding high risk options) to millennials taking hefty health insurance policies at early ages and constant promotion of fear mongering in the media. Yellow and false journalism is quite rampant still, as we observed in the 2016 election--and frankly on a daily basis. Wait until the US starts to get snow, it'll be the snowocalypse on every local media station and stores will be emptied of bread and milk.
Combine those factors will a poor education (including understanding of probability and statistics) and it's no wonder most people are constantly awaiting the apocalypse, and many others just itching to say "I told you so."