Note 7 users who turn in their phone will be eligible to receive a new one with a fixed battery, credit toward another model of Samsung phone, or a full refund. The latest issue comes from Port St. Lucie, Florida where a Galaxy Note 7 is said to be the cause of a auto fire.
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To date Samsung says only 35 phones have experienced the issue, while over 2.5 million have been sold.
The recall on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website includes 26 burn reports and 55 incidents of property damage, including fires in cars and a garage.
According to Samsung, there is a design flaw within the phone’s lithium ion battery cell.
The recall comes at a crucial time for Samsung, as its rival Apple just announced its own latest versions of the iPhones, which go on sale Friday.
One of the likely reasons for why relatively few people have exchanged their devices so far has been the lack of replacement Note 7s.
Some analysts say the recall may cost Samsung up to $5 billion in revenue this year and will damage the company’s reputation.
According to the CPSC, Samsung has received 92 reports of batteries overheating in the US, “including 26 reports of burns and 55 reports of property damage, including fires in cars and a garage”. Our collaboration with the CPSC to fast-track a voluntary recall in the USA addresses safety concerns by ensuring we reach Note7 owners quickly to exchange their devices.
In the interest of safety, the CPSC issued a formal recall of the device on Thursday. The company previously identified which inventory was producing the defective batteries and halted sales/shipments of the phones.
In an effort to steal a march on Apple, the Note 7 was given an early launch in the key United States market, making that a priority for the recall effort.
CPSC chairman Elliot Kaye said at a press conference.
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The firm tapped China’s Amperex Technology Limited (ATL) as the main battery supplier for the Note 7 phones, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Some have been injured when the phone caught on fire.
