“Because consumers’ safety remains our top priority, Samsung will ask all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note7 while the investigation is taking place”.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 users have reportedly been sent return kits which contain gloves to handle the device as well as a number of special thermally-insulated boxes to ship the phones back in.
“For the benefit of consumers’ safety, we stopped sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7 and have consequently made a decision to stop production”.
On Tuesday, Samsung announced it would kill off the Galaxy Note 7 line due to battery issues causing the phone to overheat and potentially catch fire or explode.
The second recall follows five reports of “safe” replacement Note7 phones catching fire overseas, including one that forced the evacuation of a plane in the US. However, as the BBC notes, replacement phones have since begun spontaneously catching fire, even causing a USA domestic flight to be evacuated.
“These devices are miracles of technology – how much we can get out of that tiny piece of lithium-ion”, the report writes, citing a person informed by Samsung executives.
The Financial Times said the Samsung crisis will worsen as Apple aggressively markets products ahead of peak Christmas sales. The U.S. market accounts for around 30 percent of Samsung’s mobile phone revenues, and a failure to market products there would seriously affect sales in other markets.
If you own a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 handset, switch it off right now. Samsung Australia has just announced that it will voluntarily recall all Galaxy Note7 phones – both original units and replacement devices.
Meanwhile, Samsung on Wednesday said it was sending fire-resistant packaging to United States customers to prevent possible explosions as they returned their Note7 devices to retailers, AP reported. While the new Gear VR may have added support for the Note 7, it also supports the Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, S6, S6 Edge and the Note 5, so there are plenty of choices for VR solutions.
