WorldStage Newsonline- Samsung has issued a global recall of its new Galaxy Note 7 phone, affecting millions of devices, saying in response to recently reported cases it conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue after a fault with the phone’s battery caused it to explode. The firm said it would take about two weeks to prepare replacement devices.
Advertisement
A man tries out the Samsung’s latest smartphone Galaxy Note 7 at a roadshow booth outside a shopping mall in Beijing, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016. Apple is expected to announce its new iPhone next week and Samsung’s mobile division was counting on momentum from the Note 7’s strong reviews and higher-than-expected demand.
But it did not confirm the battery issue led to either explosions or fires, which has been reported elsewhere.
Samsung said new sales of the Note 7 in affected markets would resume after it deals with replacements, a process it expects will begin in about two weeks.
The sale of the Galaxy Note 7 also halted in 10 countries. It estimated that about 1 in 42,000 units may have a faulty battery. Customers who have bought the unsafe devices can swap it for a new one with no extra charges according to Samsung. Though Yonhap claimed that the “products installed with the problematic battery account for less than 0.1 percent of the entire volume sold”, Samsung still insisted on assuaging consumer fears by issuing the drastic measure.
“I can’t comment on exactly how much the cost will be, but it pains my heart that it will be such a big number”, Koh said. The shipment has been pushed back due to the quality control testing.
She’s having second thoughts about buying another newly released device, especially after losing all her personal data stored in the destroyed Note 7, she said.
Advertisement
Owners have been posting photos and videos (below) of Note 7s that have caught fire, many of them partially melted by the intensity of the flames. The company uses several different battery suppliers.
