Samsung started its Barcelona press conference by talking about its exploding phones fiasco

AP

BARCELONA, Spain — Samsung kicked off its first press conference since its global Galaxy Note 7 recall by admitting that "the past six months has undoubtedly been one of the most challenging periods in our history."

David Lowes, Samsung's European CMO, started the company's press conference on Sunday by saying "we want to take a moment to reflect."

Lowes' comments followed a video showing Samsung's product testing methods.

Lowes said during his introduction that "the past six months has undoubtedly been one of the most challenging periods in our history. We did not meet the high standard of excellence we set for ourselves."

"We're determined to learn every possible lesson," Lowes said. "We recognise that regaining consumer trust can only be earned through actions not words."

It was a humbling start to a press conference, and it followed disruption caused by protestors from environmental charity Greenpeace. Climbers scaled the outside of Samsung's press conference and attempted to unfurl a banner criticising Samsung for releasing and then recalling the Galaxy Note 7.

Business Insider/James Cook

Samsung was forced to issue a global recall of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after faulty components caused some models of the phone to set on fire. The fires sent at least one person to hospital and caused airlines to issue bans on the devices.

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