Samsung itself has asked customers to power down their new phones and exchange them.
Advertisement
Justin Denison, senior vice president of product strategy at Samsung, speaks during a launch event for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, August 2, 2016 in New York City.
Samsung plans to begin issuing new Note 7s with batteries it says will not be prone to overheating starting September 19 in South Korea.
Samsung shares fell on Monday as the company continued to work on the Galaxy Note 7 recall.
“Of course, I’m nervous that I might have a defective unit, so I want to either have it confirmed my phone is fine or replace the unit”, he said. “This is a measure we are taking for our customers’ safety but we apologise for the inconvenience caused”. The larger percentage of batteries, including the faulty ones that are being reported, are supplied by Samsung’s own SDI subsidiary. According to Korean news outlets, Samsung will be issuing a firmware update to limit the battery’s charge to 60%. The recall will affect all of the 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 phones sold worldwide. In order to try and prevent anymore major accidents from happening, Samsung is pushing out a software update to affected units that will cap the battery at a 60 percent limit.
Samsung and the CPSC have said they are coordinating their efforts now. As the Consumer Product Safety Commission has not passed any statement yet regarding this matter so still the phone has not been officially banned.
South Korea’s markets were closed on Wednesday for a public holiday. Analysts said the supplier shift would likely mean ATL would be temporarily the sole supplier for the Note 7, though this was likely only to be a short-term solution.
Advertisement
The company did not say how many more battery fires in the Note 7 have been reported since September 1, when 35 cases were confirmed. For one reason or another, not all users are doing so, increasing the risks of more exploding devices and increasing Samsung’s liability.
