Galaxy Note 7 dumped

Business Reporter

MASERU – IF you own a Galaxy Note 7 you should switch it off and stop using it now!

That’s the warning from Samsung, the maker of the smartphone range that has been beleaguered by faulty batteries since it was launched in August.

The South Korean company recently recalled and replaced all Galaxy Note 7 phones after batteries were found to be defective. That followed reports in September that Note 7’s batteries had exploded.

That triggered a global recall and replacement of the phones, a move expected to cost the conglomerate M14 billion.

But this week Samsung, the world’s largest manufacturer of smartphones by sales, went a step further to suspend the production and sale of the phone.

This was after some of the phones whose batteries had been replaced in the recall also exploded.

In a statement on Tuesday Samsung said it would no longer sell the phone and advised mobile phone companies and retail partners to stop its sell.

“We are working with relevant regulatory bodies to investigate the recently reported cases involving the Galaxy Note 7. Because consumers’ safety remains our top priority, Samsung will ask all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note7 while the investigation is taking place,” Samsung said in a brief statement.

“We remain committed to working diligently with appropriate regulatory authorities to take all necessary steps to resolve the situation. Consumers with either an original Galaxy Note 7 or replacement Galaxy Note 7 device should power down and stop using the device and take advantage of the remedies available,” the company added.

The announcement represents a new twist in Samsung’s public relations nightmare over problems in the Galaxy Note 7 which was launched in August.

Following the initial recall and replacement Samsung seemed to have managed to ride the wave and managed to contain the damage but the tide turned in recent weeks after it emerged that even the replaced phones were prone to explode.

Over the past weekend a US man woke up to a room full of smoke emitted from a replacement phone and a Southwest plane had to be evacuated when a replacement phone caught fire.

Investopedia, an investment news website, American carriers AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile had already suspended sales before Tuesday’s press release by the company that was stopping production.

The website further said Samsung now expects operating profit in this quarter to be US$4.6 billion, a third less than the US$7 billion it had earlier estimated.

Reuters analysts have speculated that the decision to drop Galaxy Note 7 will cost Samsung US$17 billion in revenue.

In Lesotho, the two biggest mobile telecommunications companies, Vodacom Lesotho and Telecom Econet Lesotho, were selling the Galaxy Note 7 phone. – Additional reporting by investopedia