SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Samsung says new Galaxy Note 7 smartphones will be available in US stores starting Wednesday to replace about 1 million devices that are being recalled because their batteries can catch fire.
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Half a million replacement Galaxy Note 7 cell phones are arriving in stores around the United States and will be available for exchange Wednesday, the company has announced. Note 7 was well received after its August launch, selling more than 2.5 million units its first few weeks and posing a possible threat to the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, which debuted in September.
The South Korean company on Tuesday said 500,000 replacement devices have arrived in the U.S. and have been shipped to carrier and retail stores.
Dozens of people in the USA reported their batteries overheating, and 26 reported burns, according to the commission’s website. The group said “consumers should immediately stop using and power down the recalled Galaxy Note 7 devices” and contact the location where they purchased the devices to either get a new Note 7, a refund or a replacement device.
The burning Galaxy Note 7 is singeing Samsung with consumers.
Samsung also plans to push out a software update to all recalled devices to make sure Note 7 users trade in their devices. One will show a green battery icon to confirm that a Note 7 device is a new one that doesn’t have the battery problem.
We knew this update was coming, we just didn’t know that the update would place a warning on older phones, reminding their owners that they had a ticking time bomb in their jean pocket.
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About a quarter of affected phones had been exchanged in the United States by Tuesday, according to a spokeswoman for Samsung’s USA subsidiary.
