The program offers two choices to Note 7 owners, who can either exchange their current Galaxy Note 7 smartphone with a new one, available next week, or exchange the unit for a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge and replace any Note 7 specific accessories with a refund of the price difference between devices.
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Saudi Arabia has recalled 6,186 Samsung’s Galaxy Note7 smartphone following reports that the batteries of some gadgets had exploded while being charged, said a report.
Reported cases of exploding Samsung Note 7 batteries comes just days before Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 7. Customers who already bought Note 7s will be able to swap them for new smartphones in about two weeks, said Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung’s mobile business.
Samsung didn’t say whether customers should stop using their phones, or whether explosions and fires could happen when the phone wasn’t charging.
Samsung launched the Note 7 on August 19 in some markets, including South Korea and the U.S. Shipments were delayed in South Korea this week for extra quality control testing after reports that batteries of some of the jumbo smartphones exploded while they were being charged.
Samsung would recall 2.5 million units shipped globally to countries including the US and South Korea, and offer new devices to existing users. Industrial experts predicted it could sell up to 15 million units this year. It released the Note 7 last month.
The Galaxy Note 7 has been recalled to attend battery problems leading to phones catching fire.
Galaxy Note 7 was the latest of Samsung’s series of phablets – smartphones with large screens.
The phones start at $850 in the US, more expensive than most phones.
Samsung has also announced that it has identified the affected inventory and stopped sales and shipments of said devices.
It has manufactured about 2.5 million Note 7 phones so far, some of them still in inventory.
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He refused to name the battery supplier.
