Sales of the Galaxy Note 7 may have been halted only a few days after its official launch in key markets but in South Korea, the tech giant will begin selling the smartphone on September 28.
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On Sept 6, Samsung Electronics Singapore said it would be replacing all Galaxy Note7s purchased at authorised outlets here. Reports indicate Samsung got special permission from Google to make this change, as the color of the icons coincide with newer versions of the Android operating system. Samsung added that 25% of the Galaxy Note 7 owners had exchanged their devices, up from 13% last week when it started making the replacement phones available. It’s the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 that’s been recalled, while the Galaxy S7 (a completely different device) has had no issues as such.
It’s a good sign for Samsung that wireless carriers are again listing its Galaxy Note 7 device. Other carriers and retailers are expected to receive the Galaxy Note 7 units soon.
Samsung is coordinating the recall with USA safety officials, who say the batteries in 92 devices overheated or caught fire since the Note 7 went on sale last month. But the company has said about 2.5 million devices may be affected worldwide, including 1 million sold in the United States.
One man who showed up to exchange his Galaxy Note 7 for a refurbished model said: “It’s bothersome to come back to the store”. There have been 92 confirmed incidents in the US and unconfirmed reports of 112 around the world.
“The goal is to have 100% of the affected devices replaced”, says Brannen, “and these steps are the way to ensure that happens”.
Brannen confirmed that the issue centres on batteries built by SDI, a Samsung battery division.
The Canadian subsidiary was the first to start a replacement program, according to Brannen, who says 5,000 consumers have already had their potentially risky phones replaced.
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Samsung said it had supplied 100,000 new Note 7s to the three mobile carriers as of Monday morning. All I foun was pickup availability the next day and a variety of shipping options that included having the phone arrive as early as Thursday morning.
