Samsung has announced they are halting sales and calling for a global recall of their "hottest" new smartphone phone – the Galaxy Note 7 – after multiple reports of them exploding.
The South Korean company said it will provide all owners of the Galaxy Note 7 with a replacement device in the coming weeks. The tech giant is also pulling all of its unsold Galaxy Note 7 devices from the shelves until further notice.
The Galaxy Note 7 has been on sale since August 19. However, dozens of people have been reporting their devices setting on fire during or shortly after they were put on charge. An investigation from Samsung unsurprisingly revealed the problem was caused by defective batteries.
Earlier this week, Ariel Gonzalez posted a YouTube video showing a Galaxy Note 7 with a melted rubber casing and shattered screen, commenting it “caught fire” after he was charging it.
The recall is expected to affect millions of devices. The Guardian estimates that 1 million devices have been sold and there are 2.5 million more waiting in stock rooms.
A Samsung spokesperson told South Korea's New Agency Yonhap: "The problematic battery accounts for less than 0.1 percent of the entire volume sold." Samsung added that only a portion of the devices will have the defect as they work with multiple battery manufacturers. However, since they are unable to trace the origin of the dubious batteries, they are issuing a total recall.
In a statement released today, Samsung added: “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.
"We have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note7. For customers who already have Galaxy Note7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks."
