SEOUL – Samsung on Tuesday suspended global sales of its Galaxy Note7 smartphone with immediate effect and advised users to power the devices down and hand them in, after numerous reports of the phones catching fire.
“Consumers with either an original Galaxy Note7 or replacement Galaxy Note7 device should power down and stop using the device and take advantage of the remedies available,” it continued.
On Monday the company said it had changed its production plan for the Galaxy Note7, but US and Korean media claimed that the company had halted production on the phone completely, citing unnamed sources.
Samsung started selling the smartphone on August 19, but announced a global recall of 2.5 million units in September following reports that some of the devices had caught fire.
However, there were soon reports that replacement phones had also burst into flames or started smoking, including one which began emitting smoke on a US domestic flight last week, forcing the evacuation of a passenger plane.
The company updated the recall on its US website yesterday, saying consumers could now swap the phone for a different model or get a full refund.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has said that the size of the phone’s lithium-ion batteries could be to blame for them catching fire.
It says that they are too big for the phone, which means faulty installation could lead to a short circuit.
