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Home / Samsung ends production of exploding Galaxy Note 7
Samsung ends production of exploding Galaxy Note 7
2016-10-12Staff Report 2 Windhoek The global media frenzy surrounding Samsung’s exploding Galaxy Note 7 has taken the South Korean cellphone manufacturer by storm to the extent that yesterday the massive company confirmed they are ending production of the problematic cellphone model. The move by Samsung comes after months of controversy over the defective and even dangerous batteries on the Galaxy Note 7. Samsung confirmed that it is permanently stopping production of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after it was involved in dozens of fires and explosions world-wide. In a regulatory filing in South Korea late on Tuesday, the firm said it had made the decision to stop production, for the sake of consumer safety. “Taking our customer’s safety as our highest priority, we have decided to halt sales and production of the Galaxy Note 7,” said Samsung in a statement. The announcement follows news that the company was recalling all Note 7 devices, including the supposedly safe replacement phones. “Samsung will ask all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7,” said the company yesterday. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission commended the decision, with chairman Elliot Kaye saying: “It is the right move for Samsung to suspend the sale and exchange of all Galaxy Note 7s.” Luckily for local consumers Namibia’s tendency to jump on the bandwagon late means the Note 7 has not officially been released in the country. Besides a handful of consumers, who bought the Note 7 abroad, this specific model is not yet available locally and this has turned out to be a blessing for local retailers. “The Note 7 is not officially available here and we never distributed it in the country. There were maybe four or five clients, who brought it from outside, but besides that it is not in Namibia,” said Angelo Prokas, country manager for Samsung Mobile Distribution. He noted that initial communication from Samsung was that customers could return the Note 7 to receive a replacement model. However, even the replacement model’s battery has been reported to overheat. Prokas said he is awaiting further instructions from Samsung. Local retailer Gadgets Namibia said it has been following the developments surrounding the Note 7 and decided against stocking the phone that has been reported to explode when being charged. “We don’t want to give our customers a phone that could cause problems, so we did not stock it and we did not sell it to anybody. We rather advised clients to go with another model in the same specification range,” explained Victor Nzaramba, managing partner at Gadgets Namibia. Meanwhile, Samsung said customers will still be allowed to apply for a full refund, or to swap their Note 7s for other Samsung products. It also advised all customers with an original or replacement Galaxy Note 7 to “power down and stop using the device” immediately. A number of airlines around the world have also banned the use of the Note 7 aboard their aircraft. 2016-10-12Staff Report 2
