The South Korean giant said it was expanding its probe into the Note 7 fires beyond batteries, as it tried to reassure investors that it would get to the bottom of one of the worst product failures in tech history.
It also held out the prospect of greater returns by disclosing consideration of a share buyback, talked up its semiconductor business and promised to consider proposals for a corporate makeover from US hedge fund Elliott Management.
"We know we must work hard to earn back your trust and we are committed to doing just that," said Co-Chief Executive J.K. Shin as he apologized for the debacle at a general meeting in Seoul following the release of the company's results.
Investors expect sweeping management changes in response to the Note 7 failure, especially after voting on Thursday to make parent conglomerate Samsung Group's de facto chief, Jay Y. Lee, a Samsung Electronics director.
Lee, 48, the son of patriarch Lee Kun-hee who has been hospitalized following a heart attack, will now have greater accountability at the group's flagship company and a clearer mandate to play a public role in setting strategy.
But shareholders may have to wait for the Note 7 investigation to conclude before seeing any heads roll at the family-run conglomerate.
Samsung Electronics Chief Executive Kwon Oh-hyun said at the shareholder meeting the company would assign responsibility only after the crisis was resolved.
The world's top smartphone maker posted a 96% plunge in third-quarter mobile earnings to $88 million.
Overall operating profit was $4.6 billion, matching Samsung's revised guidance and marking a two-year low. Before the Note 7 was discontinued, the firm had estimated a 7.8 trillion won profit.
The scrapping of Samsung's flagship phone erased 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points from South Korea's third-quarter GDP growth in quarterly terms, a finance ministry official told Reuters on Tuesday.
