The loyal customers of Samsung Electronics had been facing trouble in the recent past with their latest device, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
Users of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones who are living in the US and in South Korea were immediately urged to turn them off and to stop charging them. Even the aviation authorities around the whole world had requested all the passengers not to switch on or charge their Samsung Galaxy Note 7 while inside the flight.
These warnings were pronounced by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and also by Samsung itself. Almost three dozens of these phones that were released just three weeks ago had their batteries catching fire or exploding.
The CPSC issued a statement saying that this consumer warning has been issued based on a few reports involving recent fires because of the lithium-ion batteries in certain Galaxy Note 7 devices. These incidents have occurred when the phones were either being charged or even when they were being used normally. Such incidents have led the CPSC to request the customers to power down the usage of their Galaxy Note 7s.
These troubles for Samsung come at a very critical time. The company had rolled out the new Galaxy Note 7 last month so that it can give a head start to the new iPhone from Apple that was unveiled this week. Unfortunately, the advantage has now faded away. The shares of Samsung tumbled by a 3.9 percent in the trade market in Korea on Friday. This has been the biggest drop in its shares since a long time.
Technology based intelligence analysts have reported that the recent launch of the brand new products from the two leaders of the global market in smartphones is crucial to their competition.
What the Countries are Doing to Avert Any Damage
In South Korea, almost 2.5 million smartphones that were already shipped have been recalled, costing the company a whopping $1 billion. Samsung has told its users in South Korea to cease the usage of these devices and has requested them to bring the phones to their service centers. The new batteries should be available soon and till then the customers have been allowed to rent replacement phones.
India has become the latest country to join the interests of the US and Japan in issuing the ban against the use of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in flights. Samsung India has responded to the notice from Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and issued a statement saying that peace of mind and safety of the customers is its main priority. Samsung did not officially ship the Galaxy Note 7 in India and had postponed its release. However, there are possibilities of purchases from the grey market or from other countries. The Indian customers who had pre-booked the phone are being offered freebies for gratification.
Even the European Aviation Safety Agency had issued a warning and forewarned against packing the batteries in checked bags. This was announced following a stringent warning from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
Incidents of Battery Explosion That Have Been Reported
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has been reportedly involved in a number of fire-related episodes across the world. The company has acknowledged that these incidents have been caused due to the device’s battery which has been exploding. There was an incident in Australia, where the battery exploded in the customer’s hotel room and was handed a $1,400 bill for causing damage. One of the recent explosion cases was reported in Florida, US, where a resident’s jeep was totaled because he had kept his Samsung Galaxy Note 7 for charge inside the car. Another incident occurred in South Carolina where the handset exploded inside a house while on charge. Many other similar incidents have also been reported.
The United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization has voted to ban all the passenger airlines from carrying rechargeable lithium-ion batteries like that of the Samsung device in bulk shipments. The union issued in an e-mail report that these batteries are capable of self-ignition, explosion and are also unresponsive to halon, which is the primary agent for fire-extinguishment in aircraft. However, it has not placed any such restrictions on batteries that are contained inside devices since any fires that occur can be extinguished easily.
More Updates
According to Android Authority, Samsung has plans to deactivate the Note 7 device by the end of September before which people are expected to exchange the device. People in France have already started receiving gift cards and Gear VR headsets in exchange for the phone.
Samsung has also requested customers not to use the Note 7 smartphones anymore and get them exchanged “immediately” to prevent any mishap, according to CNBC.com