Sep 12, 2016- Dragonair has urged passengers to and from Nepal to not to use Samsung Galaxy Note 7 on planes in the wake of the fresh issues detected in the smartphone battery.
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Samsung shares fell nearly 7% to won 1.465m, knocking about $14bn (£11bn) off the company’s market value, as traders anxious the recall could wreck sales of the Note 7 and cause lasting damage to Samsung’s reputation.
Samsung is probably afraid that it won’t be available to replace all the Galaxy Note 7 unit by September 30, so a deactivation of these devices after that date would cause even more issue for those who did not received replacements yet.
Aviation authorities in several other countries and individual airlines have since then also banned the use of the devices on their flights, the BBC reported. Samsung offered a replacement device, and the company confirmed that it was arranging to cover the bill for damages to the hotel room.
As a high-end smartphone, the Note 7’s key rival is Apple’s iPhone.
But the company – and USA authorities – is recommending that anyone who has a Galaxy Note 7 turns it off right now, and returns it in exchange for a non-defective unit. “New Note7 replacement devices will be issued to exchange program participants upon completion of the CPSC process”.
Investors had wiped 15.9 trillion won off the South Korean firm’s market capitalisation as of 0303 GMT, as a series of warnings from regulators and airlines around the world raised fears for the future of the flagship device.
The mobile business accounts for a major share of profits for Samsung, which also produces home appliances and memory chips. A Samsung official, speaking to Yonhap News, said: “Products installed with the problematic battery account for less than 0.1 percent of the entire volume sold”.
It’s worth pointing out that, according to Samsung, less than 0.1% of the Note 7 phablets were packed with faulty batteries. For example, US law prohibits the sale or resale of any recalled item once CPSC acts. Shipments to South Korea’s top three carriers have been suspended for now.
Samsung released the Galaxy Note 7 on August 19.
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Samsung recalled 2.5 million phones last week after a U.S. family’s jeep caught fire due to the explosion of the phone.
