The Chinese authorities have recalled 1,858 Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones partly sold “through an official Samsung website before the September 1 launch, as part of a testing scheme”, according to Reuters.
Advertisement
For those stubborn device owners who refused to exchange their Galaxy Note 7, Samsung now has a sort of solution in place to limit the risk of an exploding battery.
The Galaxy Note 7 recall is unprecedented for Samsung, which prides itself on its manufacturing technology.
The software update, which will be automatic, will begin at 2 a.m. local time on September 20, Samsung said in a statement.
However, as more details about the reported incident emerged on Tuesday, it was made clear that the device the boy was using at the time of the explosion was not a Note 7, but a different Samsung smartphone.
Owner Nathan Dornacher was not aware of Samsung’s massive recall of the device last week for the batteries’ ability to explode and catch fire. To make Note 7 users in South Korea aware of the software patch, Samsung released an advertisement about the patch on the front page of a Seoul Shinumn, a Korean newspaper.
“MTA customers should turn off #Samsung Galaxy Note7 before entering station or boarding bus due to concerns device’s battery can ignite”, said a posting on the MTA Twitter feed. In fact, there are more than 70 issues of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and its batteries overheating in the USA alone.
Samsung is planning to resume sales of the Galaxy Note 7, which has received raved reviews from users and critics – but supplies are severely constrained as a result of the recall. As per the notice, the extreme measure is being undertaken to put consumer safety first.
Samsung “has to contain the battery explosions but people are not returning the phones”, said Peter Yu, an analyst at BNP Paribas. In most cases where the Note 7 burst into flames, the battery has been charging and possibly close to reaching 100 percent capacity.
However it should be noted that this is what Samsung plans to do for the South Korean market.
Advertisement
Samsung has not confirmed anything from the report or the recent rumors about the deactivation of the unreturned devices.
