Samsung on Friday said that it has delayed sales of one of its flagship handsets Galaxy Note 7 in India due to battery issues.
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Some buyers reported their phones caught fire or exploded while charging, and Samsung said it had confirmed 35 such cases, caused by faulty batteries.
Reports have sprung up about exploding Note 7 devices in a few occasions, causing concern from Samsung.
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.
As of September 1, there here have been 35 cases of battery explosion which have been reported globally. That information should come soon. The leading smartphone company also said that the exchange of the Galaxy Note 7 phones will begin as early as next week.
The company official who remains unnamed told Korean media that the issue is related to the battery pack and that the problem is estimated to affect around 0.1% of all the Note 7 that were shipped so far.
Samsung said devices in China don’t appear to be affected because it used another battery supplier. Existing Note 7 devices on the market will be replaced voluntarily for customers with new ones in the coming weeks. “Nevertheless, the reason we made this decision is because what is most important is customer safety”, he added, as quoted by the BBC.
The firm has said it aimed for the Note 7 to maintain strong sales momentum in the second half of the year against stiffening competition from the likes of Apple Inc, which is widely expected to release its latest iPhone next week.
Koh Dong-jin, head of Samsung’s mobile division, told reporters that a total of 35 complaints had been filed with its service centers at home and overseas for the Galaxy Note 7’s battery problem as of Thursday.
Samsung is allowing Galaxy Note 7 customers to swap their handset either with the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge phones.
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At a news conference, company executives declined to comment on exactly how much replacing all the devices would cost.
