Ashley Wright
Samsung has revealed that about half of the recalled Galaxy Note 7 phones sold in the U.S. have been exchanged for replacement units, as part of the company's voluntary recall on the phablets after reports of battery explosions and fires.
The recall began on Wednesday, causing Samsung to stop sales of the Galaxy Note 7 and replace a total of 2.5 million units worldwide — mostly in the United States.
Samsung said that 90 percent of Galaxy Note 7 owners have opted to receive the safer Galaxy Note 7 instead of a different model.
The timing of the recall could prove to be a boon for Apple. Analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray believes the recall could provide a "slight tailwind" for iPhone 7 Plus sales, as the recall occurred right before the phone's launch of Apple's new 5.5-inch handset.
To move the launch of the Note 7 by 10 days to steal more of Apple's thunder, Samsung executives pushed suppliers into meeting faster deadlines despite the phone's significant feature advancements. It's believed the rush to market caused the serious safety issues.
One of the upgrades in the Note 7 is a 3,500 milliamp-hour battery, up from the previous Note's 3,000. Samsung has indicated that a production error has caused the battery fires.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
31 Comments
People will continue to blindly purchase Samsung devices, ignorant to the business practices of that company.
1) The recall only began 2 days ago? Is there some different between a technical and official recall that I'm not aware of? I could have sworn this was being recalled weeks ago.
2) What kind of dummy would keep this device? Maybe someone that likes to collect unique gadgets, and a full recall of a massive failure, might qualify for their island of misfit toys, but I sure hope those customers aren't using this phone for their sake and the sake of everyone else around them.
"...opted to receive the **safer** Galaxy Note 7"
Safer.
So, it's not completely safe then, Samsung?