Samsung recently issued a recall for its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, the company intends to replace the 2.5 million handsets that it has sold worldwide due to battery issues on the handset. After all, the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 edge easily crushed the competition making the pair the most popular Android phones available.
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Also, he said passengers would be asked not to load their Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in their check-in baggage which are loaded in the luggage compartment.
The recall of some 2.5 million devices could cost Samsung as much as $5 billion, and the company’s shares closed down 3.9 percent Friday.
Over the weekend, Samsung’s USA unit confirmed it has been collaborating with the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) following its announcement of battery cell issues related to the Galaxy Note 7.
“In light of recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung about its Galaxy Note 7 devices, the Federal Aviation Administration strongly advises passengers not to turn on or charge these devices on board aircraft and not to stow them in any checked baggage”, the US FAA order said.
On its United Kingdom website, Samsung wrote: “Based on our investigation, we learned that there was an issue with the battery cell”.
The Korean company is offering to exchange all affected Galaxy Note 7 phones with a replacement device using a safe battery. “An overheating of the battery cell occurred when the anode-to-cathode came into contact, which is a very rare manufacturing process error”.
The FAA statement does not order U.S. airlines to take action. “We encourage Galaxy Note 7 consumers to take advantage of the exchange programme”, it added.
“Some said initially the Galaxy Note 7 could be the best smartphone ever, but now it’s possible the phone will go down as the worst ever”, IBK Securities analyst Lee Seung-woo said, predicting weak sales in the fourth quarter.
But now the impact of the move might be blunted.
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After the advent of premium but affordable devices, customers are now warming up to affordable smartphones rather than opting for the costly ones. “Will not buy a Samsung product again”.
