According to a report by The Australian, while no battery incident took place in Australia, the company has made a decision to take “the proactive and voluntary step” of recalling the 51,060 Galaxy Note 7 units in response to global concerns.
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In yet another instance of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 exploding due to an alleged faulty battery, an Australian bore the brunt this time around not only with respect to bodily injuries, but also by shelling out as much as INR 1,00,000 or 1,800 AUD as penalty. Besides Australia, Samsung is recalling and replacing more than 2.5 million Note 7 phones which could cost the South Korean phone giant more than US$1 billion (A$1.3 billion).
According to customer Dean Cabena, Qantas crew members warned passengers that charging the Note 7 was prohibited during a flight from Perth to Sydney this week.
The Galaxy Note 7 isn’t explicitly banned from the flights the airlines make, but the device is banned from being plugged into in flight entertainment systems via USB ports.
The recall follows reports of the 988,900 won ($885) phone igniting while charging – an embarrassing blow to Samsung, which prides itself on its manufacturing prowess and had been banking on the devices to add momentum to a recovery in its mobile business.
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“We have not seen the need to ban the use of the smartphones on flights”, said a ministry official after a meeting with Samsung’s officials. The policy applies to aircraft of Jetstar, the budget carrier of Qantas. The company expects delivery of the replacement units within three or four weeks. They will be able to use the handset with complete confidence.
