A U.S. consumer safety watchdog is issuing the words Samsung was likely loathe to hear: power down your Galaxy Note 7 and stop charging or using the device.
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Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Friday that it will expedite new shipments of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones from this week, in response to a USA regulator’s advisory to not turn on or charge the phone in flight due to faulty batteries.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it was working with the agency and asked customers to immediately turn in their Note 7 phones.
Thus far, Samsung has been breaking protocol in its attempt to recall all the Galaxy Note 7 units. But the CPSC said it would be looking into whether a replacement Note 7 is an acceptable remedy for Samsung or phone carriers to provide to consumers.
Samsung had been gaining some ground against Apple, Stafega said.
For Samsung, which prides itself on manufacturing prowess, the scale of the recall is expected to be unprecedented. Its shares closed down 3.9 percent on Friday.
For now, Samsung is offering customers a different phone and a $25 gift card.
As of September 1, there have been 35 cases of the phone catching on fire reported globally, according to Samsung. “It’s going to set up a persistent issue over time”, he said.
One pain point is that the devices are now off limits in a typically high-use setting: aboard planes.
The FAA said it can’t prohibit the devices until the product-safety commission issues a recall.
The DGCA order came after the global aviation regulators like the US Federal Aviation Authority warning passengers not to turn on or charge their phones because of concerns about the devices. Tigerair in Singapore has banned the phones, as well as Qantas, Virgin Airlines and JetStar.
As Recode notes, the USA government initially feared that Samsung was breaking protocol as the company started recollecting the Galax Note 7.
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Get free real-time news alerts from the Across America Patch. This will make it much easier to tell if your Note 7 is affected or not, and with IEMI identifiers being effectively unchangeable, it’s practically fool-proof.
