Samsung Electronics recalled all of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones on Friday after finding batteries of some of the flagship gadgets exploded or caught fire.
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The Galaxy Note 7 is being pulled from stores in 10 countries, including South Korea and the US, but not China because those devices use a different battery.
For customers who have already bought the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung said that it will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one in the coming weeks.
Samsung is issuing what amounts to its first global recall of the flagship smartphone because it has not found ways to specify exactly which phones may endanger users.
Samsung had already asked all network operators and retailers in the United Kingdom to stop selling the Galaxy Note 7 until further notice, but the company today issued a statement in which it announced that it is recalling all Galaxy Note 7 handsets that have been sold already.
The company said all the phones will be exchanged with new ones regardless of battery functions.
In the announcement, Samsung confirmed that it had received 35 reports of battery defects or fires at its service centres.
However, Samsung has revealed that after a thorough investigation a battery cell problem is to blame.
“We will work closely with Samsung to ensure T-Mobile customers who have already purchased the device are well taken care of”, the company said in a statement. Any sales advantage that the Note 7 had will be wiped out, while there are obvious question marks around the safety of the device, too.
The phone-maker said it has conducted a thorough investigation on the issue and there were 35 reported cases globally as on September 1.
The product recall was prompted by reports of phone batteries exploding. The company uses several different battery suppliers. No injuries have been reported, the AP says.
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The company acknowledged the recall would be an “inconvenience” but said it was working to make sure it would be as “convenient and efficient a possible”.
