Update: Samsung has announced it will start a product exchange program for the Galaxy Note 7 in the UK. If you have a Note 7 your mobile operator (or where you purchased the phone from) will contact you to arrange an exchange from September 19 onward.
Conor Pierce, Vice President of IT & Mobile of Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland, said in a statement. “The safety and satisfaction of customers is our top priority and by working closely with our partners and operators, we are taking a proactive approach to address the needs of Galaxy Note7 customers in the UK.
“We are encouraging customers to exchange their Galaxy Note7 by taking advantage of the Product Exchange Programme.”
Original: Samsung has confirmed it will be halting sales of the Galaxy Note 7, and is recalling all phones that have been bought so far.
While the company has said that ‘only’ 24 out of the million sold worldwide are affected, that’s too many given those affected appear to be catching fire – and that number has now risen to 35.
In a statement, the company said:
“Samsung is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take every incident report from our valued customers very seriously. In response to recently reported cases of the new Galaxy Note 7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue.
“To date (as of September 1) there have been 35 cases that have been reported globally and we are currently conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market. However, because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note 7.
“For customers who already have Galaxy Note 7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks.
“We acknowledge the inconvenience this may cause in the market but this is to ensure that Samsung continues to deliver the highest quality products to our customers. We are working closely with our partners to ensure the replacement experience is as convenient and efficient as possible.”
Samsung had previously issued a statement saying it will take two weeks to prepare replacements, but now it’s confirmed that all phones will be going back to source for battery changing.
Also an anonymous official, speaking to Yonhap News, said: “Products installed with the problematic battery account for less than 0.1 percent of the entire volume sold.
“The problem can be simply resolved by changing the battery, but we’ll come up with convincing measures for our consumers.”
Yeah, this is happening
Whichever way you cut it, this is terrible news for Samsung, with its share price taking a tumble in the wake of these revelations.
The brand was riding the wave of stronger than expected sales of its Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge models, and the Note 7 was received to critical acclaim, with this site saying ‘it’s artfully designed dual curves make holding it manageable and just as stylish as the Galaxy S7 Edge’.
TechRadar broke the story yesterday that networks were being forced to halt shipments of the Note 7 ahead of an anticipated launch on September 3, and any stocks that were already in stores were to be ‘quarantined’ ahead of replacements being sent out.
Source: techradar.com
Got mine in Hong Kong this weekend – just released, (preordered) I asked for one of those exploding Note 7’s and had to listen to some woman (who had just purchased on for herself) explain how the ones here & in China don’t have Batteries from the S. Korean supplier and are safe (No recall)
I already knew this 🙂
I have bought a Samsung S7 Edge phone brand new and last week it got that hot I could not hold it, and it was just resting on the table. After seeing recalls of the note 7, because they have exploded I am wondering how many S7 Edge phone has exploded and set fire? Does anyone know? I did think last week it might catch fire when it was so hot so I had to turn it off to cool it down. Should I contact Samsung? It’s only 2 months old.
It would have to be a separate issue from the one affecting the Note 7 as edge models have a different battery. That and there’s been no reports of battery failures for the edge model despite it being out for a few months longer.
Now we know why they made it water proof.
The Imperious S7 edge will still weight in very heavily on Iphone 6/7 sales. I own an S7e and have owned a huge number of flagship handsets over the past ten years of android, I can 100% say that its the king of kings. The S8 will struggle to match the sweeping change it has had on the market but its very very possible it will. In our office alone 3 solid iphone users have changed from Iphone6/6s to S7 Edges. For the first time Android now, ‘Just Works’ its taken time to reach the absolute advances made by the iphone in the early years and the development finance it brought to the cupertino company, but Samsungs development is ahead of the Nexus Team with Nougat being basically Marshmallow with TouchWiz.
Thankfully the Note 7 is not a flagship device so to speakso although a huge deal is not a deal breaker. Those that are looking or have looked now own an S7 in its two distinctions. Apple will be laughing at this poor news from Samsung HQ, but I tell you now the will have eyes firmly fixed on the Feb ’17 release of the S8 because they will not get that wrong thats for sure.
NB I bet it comes down to a shortcut in manufacturing that wasn’t tested. The batteries will be the same but without superfast wireless charging.
Samsung is actually coming out of this looking good all things considered. Only a tiny amount of devices are affected with no reports of serious damage/injury,
they acted quickly and responsibly,
they’re taking all the phones back even though so few have the TMI battery responsible to show good will and put customers at ease
They’re setting users up with new phones as loaners until new Notes ship and offering cash credits for the inconvenience
Contrast this with Apples penchant for turning their backs on consumers with bricked iPhones because of errors 53 and now touch disease that affected far more devices no less. In both cases consumers had to launch class action lawsuits in order for Apple to even address the issues. Samsung did the right thing and people everywhere are acknowledging that….Apple on the other hand…
BTW, the battery failures have been traced to a small local supplier in Korea named TMI and it was determined by Samsung testing that some of those batteries were “damaged” during the manufacturing process at TMI. Apparently the damage is either not easy to identify and/or it was internal damage.
When companies rush things out that quick just trying to impress people,it back-fires on them when something goes wrong,so glad i did not pre-order the Note 7 now,this could be even bad news for the S8 Edge as the critics will now be checking out the batteries to see if Samsung have fully tested them before using them,Apple will be really happy now,and if LG can release a Reliable V20 it might be better news for them as well
What “rush” ? The Note 7 was released only 2 days earlier this year. It was the S7/S7E that came out 2 weeks sooner this year and no reports of battery failures for either have surfacedone despite being on the market 4 months longer than the new Note. Probably because they have different batteries all together.
I pre-ordered and am using my Note 7. I have zero issues. Waterproof, Gorilla glass, 64GB, expandable to 256GB, cool even when charging, incredible longer battery life … infinity-like screen when viewing videos it’s so awesome.
This hoopla about some Note 7’s burning is perpetuated by mostly European and North American Apple Fan boys who are always looking for some redemption for Apple. They will pounce on some small issue and blow it out of proportion. Apple sucks that’s already been established when they started copying Samsung when they caved and started making brick phones …
Note 7 Rocks … It’s literally the best specs phone so far considering it’s light weight yet with Gorilla glass and water proofing.
And oh see how Toyota had millions of recalls yet it’s the top selling car in the world .. just like Samsung phones are the top selling flagship in the world for 4.5 years straight?. That is something Apple will never be able to compete with .. ever!