Samsung tells Korean customers to stop using Galaxy Note 7

[kids]

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics on Saturday recommended South Korean customers to stop using the new Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, which the company is recalling worldwide after several dozen of them caught fire.

In a statement posted on its website, the South Korean technology giant advised local users to visit the company’s service centers to receive rental phones for temporary use. Samsung plans to provide Galaxy Note 7 devices with new batteries in South Korea starting on Sept. 19.

“We again express our sincere apologies to our customers who value our products,” the company said in a statement.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday warned airline passengers not to turn on or charge Galaxy Note 7s during flights and also not to put the smartphone in their checked bags.

Samsung last week announced plans to recall 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 phones worldwide after its investigation of the device fires found rechargeable lithium batteries manufactured by one of its suppliers at fault.

The company has confirmed 35 cases of its devices catching fire, most of them occurring while the battery was being charged. Samsung released the jumbo smartphone on Aug. 19.

Source. AP

[drey_p]

It just goes from bad to worse doesn't it..?

[kids]

@drey_p It sure does!

This is the first time I have ever heard of a worlwide ban of turning on a phone on an aircraft or packing it in check in baggage.

I feel it is going to take a long time to restore confidence in the device.

[jeffkinn]

Difficult to see how it could get any worse. How can anyone trust this product? or indeed Samsung generally?

They are big enough to withstand the tidal wave approaching them but like, VW and their emissions scandal, people will never quite look at them the same again.

Meanwhile Apple ..........

[kids]

Let us hope that this crisis in the Korean shipping industry does not hit Samsung further.

Hanjin Shipping collapse strands cargo worth billions:

Cargo worth the equivalent of 12.4 billion euros is stuck as this has come during the peak shipping period ahead of the year-end holiday season.

Samsung is one of the worst hit, and is asking a US bankruptcy court to let it pay to have tens of millions of euros worth of cargo unloaded in ports there

Source: ThaiRath

[kids]

And now Samsung have issued a worldwide recall as they are unable to tell which batteries may catch fire.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37314826

http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2016/09/02/samsung-galaxy-note-7-recall.cnnmoney/index.html

[kids]

Statement re exhanges on Samsung website.

http://www.samsung.com/uk/note7exchange/

[drey_p]

Thanks for posting all these links @kids.  This situation is going downhill rapidly....  Each time I see you post something related to the Note 7, I think to myself, "it can't have gotten worse, can it?" but it does!

I think it is ironic though, when this first came out and it was indicated that it was a worldwide recall, I was told that I didn't know what I was talking about and the UK wasn't affected (despite the fact that it was).  It now comes to light that it is the whole world and it affects every phone and not just a handful.

You'd really think that Samsung would have learnt about batteries after the S5 had issues.  Also, you'd think that something like this would have come to light in the testing phase.  Hopefully this will make Samsung take a careful look at how they do things so this doesn't happen again.

I suppose though, looking at a slight positive, whilst the Note 7 is a great phone, it does appeal to a much smaller amount of people so the impact is likely to be less than if it was say the S7 or S7 Edge. 

[kids]

@drey_p There does seem to be another story each day.

One of the worrying things is that Samsumg whilst admitting that there is a problem with the batteries have said that they do know which batches of batteries are the faulty ones.

If Samsung as a safety measure are replacing all 2.5 million batteries then that is not something that can be done in a few weeks. I also wonder if cargo airlines are going to be happy to start shipping the new phones when already there is a worldwide ban of the phones being checked into cargo holds. Personally I would have thought that the FIA would need to see some extensive testing before they are satisfied the problem is resolved.

The recorded incidents are spread around the world so it is not going to be easy to identify a small batch of batteries that were used for just one region.

As for you being told you did not know what you were talking about when you indicated it was a worldwide recall, well there are always people who cant be bothered to do a little research and end up with egg on their faces.

[drey_p]

You wouldn't expect this sort of thing from someone as big as Samsung!  It'll be interesting to see what this does to their profit. 

Yeah, I am inclined to agree with you - this isn't going to be resolved in a few weeks.  It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out and how they are able to ship the phones if the airlines aren't happy to take them as cargo.  Not being able to send the replacements via air cargo is only going to slow things down even more.

I am having to resist the urge to say "I told you so" LOL