Samsung Electronics launched the Note 7 phone in China on September 1 amid a growing number of reports of the phones catching fire in other nations.
Advertisement
Officials at Samsung reportedly rushed production of the Note 7 after hearing rumors that the iPhone 7 launch – sensing an opportunity to burnish its reputation as an innovator in smartphones.
Several worldwide airlines announced bans on passengers using and charging the smartphone on planes following advice from the US Federal Aviation Administration.
The incident comes amid a recall of the Note 7 phones across the globe including South Korea and the United States due to faulty batteries causing the devices to catch fire while charging or in normal use.
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 recall is in full effect – and yet, it appears as though customers aren’t getting the message. The company traced the problem to a battery manufacturing error and says only a small percentage of phones were actually affected. The UK is one of the first countries to receive new shipments of Note 7s.
Replacements of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 will be available this Wednesday, according to CNN.
Two Chinese consumers posted images of their broken Galaxy Note 7 models after they caught fire on social media on Sunday. If confirmed, the reports would deepen Samsung Electronics’s growing woes with the problem-plagued smartphones. That account gave no contact information for the user or details of where the person lives but showed photos of the damaged phone and its serial number.
Samsung said those telephones were distributed before September 1 to give consumers hands-on experience.
So if you’re cautiously holding on to your Galaxy Note 7 wondering if it’s going to explode or not, just enter in your IMEI number in Samsung’s new online tool and you’ll get your answer. Analyst Lee Seung-Woo of Seoul-based IBK Investment & Securities said the recall may eventually cost Samsung up to 3.3 trillion won ($2.9 billion), potentially denting future smartphone sales and forcing the company to spend more on marketing. The recall in China applies to phones made between July 20 and August 5.
Advertisement
South Korea’s government has not issued an official recall like its counterparts in the USA and Canada.
