Neil Hughes
Following a recall and efforts to fix dangerous flaws with its flagship phablet Galaxy Note 7, Samsung is now said to have temporarily suspended production of the jumbo-sized handset entirely, while U.S. carriers AT&T and T-Mobile have announced they will no longer offer replacement units.
An unnamed source said to the Yonhap News Agency in South Korea that the suspension of production of the Note 7 was done in cooperation with authorities in the U.S. and China, according to CNBC.
In addition, AT&T and T-Mobile announced on Sunday they will no longer offer replacement Note 7 units to users who have potentially affected devices, according to CNN. The changes occur as reports suggest the new replacement models continue to present dangerous issues.
Earlier Sunday, reports indicated that two more Galaxy Note 7 phones had caught fire, one of the incidents sending a Kentucky man to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
Word first began to surface on Friday that AT&T was considering halting Samsung Galaxy Note 7 sales due to safety risks. Previously, replacement offers were in place from all four major U.S. carriers, under the assumption that newer models had properly addressed the flaws.
Reports have indicated that Samsung rushed the Galaxy Note 7 to market in an attempt to capitalize on what officials at the company believed was Apple's "boring" iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus update. Among the new features in the Galaxy Note 7 is a high capacity, quick-charge battery 16 percent larger than last year's Galaxy Note.
The issue has been a full-blown public relations nightmare for Samsung, forcing the company to issue a global recall for the Galaxy Note 7 just before the release of its primary competitor, the iPhone 7 Plus. Among launch units, batteries were found to potentially catch fire or even explode while charging — Â an issue that may continue to exist with newly revised models.
Update: Verizon has announced it, too, will stop offering Samsung Note 7 replacements, joining AT&T and T-Mobile.
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56 Comments
Off to pop champagne.
Public relations nightmare is an understatement.
So where are all the class action lawsuits?
So basically the Apple reigns as the unopposed mobile boss of 2016. Ironic given the incremental improvements of the 7 series versus the 6s. If Apple comes out with major upgrades for the next gen, Samsung is totally screwed.
Thank you Samsung for this great free advertisement for the iPhone 7! Hope you will do the same next year and rushing release of your new phone just before iPhone 8.
The problem is Apple almost never acknowledges a problem until sued in court and forced to. Three 2011 MacBook pro is one example.
Other companies are not like that. I had an issue with a Garmin product that is well known and when I called customer service long after the year warranty was up they said they knew of the issue and replaced it for free with the newer more advanced model. No company can make perfect products but Apple's refusal to acknowledge issues thousands are having does then no credit.