SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics has temporarily halted production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Monday, following reports that replacements for phone that had been catching fire were also overheating.

Citing an unnamed official at a Samsung supplier, Yonhap reported that the tech giant took the unprecedented measure for consumer safety.

The latest report shows that Samsung’s troubles with the Galaxy Note 7, which was recalled last month after reports of its batteries catching fire, may not be over.

Samsung Electronics did not respond to a request seeking confirmation.

The Note 7 recall, Samsung’s first smartphone recall, and its handling of the incidents have left the company facing its biggest crisis in years.

The premium phone was hailed by critics as one of the best Android phones when it made its debut in August. Two months later, some consumers called the expensive device “Death Note” after reports that dozens of the smartphones overheated or caught fire, in some cases damaging property or causing injuries.

Samsung seemed to have the trouble under control when it swiftly announced a global recall two weeks after the phone’s launch and promised consumers to replace their existing phone with a new Note 7 with a green battery icon that shows it is safe to use.

But consumers started to report that even the new Note 7 with the green battery icon were catching fire.

Last week, authorities had to evacuate a Southwest Airlines flight in Kentucky when a replacement phone began emitting smoke.

Passenger Brian Green, 43, said the device was a Galaxy Note 7 he had picked up from an authorized AT&T retailer Sept. 21 as a replacement for another Note 7 phone he returned when the global recall was announced. Samsung had promised that the replacement models were safe.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is still investigating the incident and had no further information as of Friday.

Before the report of Samsung’s production suspension emerged, AT&T, one of the largest phone retailers in the U.S., stopped giving consumers replacement Note 7s and encouraged customers with Note 7 phones to exchange them for other devices.</s>Samsung's exploding phone debacle just keeps getting worse.

The South Korean firm has warned customers to stop using all versions of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone just weeks after promising it was safe. The stock plummeted 8% Tuesday in response, wiping about $17 billion off the company's market value.

The high-end phone was supposed to do battle with Apple (AAPL, Tech30)'s iPhone 7, but it has instead ended up doing serious damage to Samsung's reputation.

Now analysts say Samsung (SSNLF) may have to cut its losses and ditch the Note 7 entirely. That could put a $9.5 billion dent in sales and erase $5 billion in profits, according to one estimate. Other reports have put the potential losses even higher.

"It's a big embarrassment for Samsung," said Bryan Ma, vice president of devices research at IDC. "It's one nightmare after another."

Related: Samsung tells users to turn off their Note 7 phones NOW

Samsung (SSNLF)'s credibility is on the line after a series of missteps. It was forced to recall about 2.5 million Note 7s in early September, just two weeks after the phone was launched, saying faulty batteries were causing some to burst into flames. It then started to issue replacement phones but a number of customers have reported that those devices also caught fire, including one aboard a passenger jet.

The electronics giant has now halted production and sales of the Note 7 phones, telling customers to turn them off immediately while it investigates the latest explosions.

What can Samsung do to limit the fallout from one of the biggest smartphone recalls ever?

"They need to act swiftly and move on to protect their brand image," said Mark Newman, a Bernstein analyst who covers Samsung. "And be completely upfront and honest with what has gone wrong. The previous explanation that it is the battery's fault doesn't add up. There appears to be something else at play."

Samsung is racing to figure out what's causing the continued problems with the Note 7. But the firestorm of negative press is in danger of hurting sales of other Samsung phones and products.

"Users are scared to use Samsung at all," Ma said. "Samsung said they fixed it, but the problems keep happening."

The most drastic option would be to ditch the Note 7 altogether.

"Samsung needs to quickly put an end to the Note 7 line so as not to get deeper into trouble with recalls and faulty devices which will tarnish its brand," said TuanAnh Nguyen, a research analyst at Canalys.

The company would be better off shifting its focus to the release of its next Galaxy S series model, which is expected early next year, and using it to "rebuild its brand image," he said.

Giving up on the Note 7 would be extremely costly. Analysts at Nomura estimate the total hit could reach $9.5 billion in lost sales and wipe out $5.1 billion of profit.

Related: Samsung won't be the last to have exploding batteries

But Samsung, which has a market value of about $194 billion and annual sales of $179 billion, should be big and profitable enough to weather the loss of one model.

"The majority of Samsung's profits are now generated outside of phones, predominantly from their strong component divisions," Newman said. "And within the handset division, the Note line is not the main driver of profit."</s>Consumers tend to commit to their choice between Apple's iOS operating system for smartphones and Google’s Android, leaving Samsung’s fellow Android manufacturers such as LG Electronics and Alphabet Inc's Google in prime position to strike. Both have newly released phones.

A hardware problem is unlikely to change a customer's preference for software systems, said analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research.

“Samsung has the premium end of the smartphone market pretty much sewn up on the Android side,” he said. “This creates a slightly bigger opening.”

Nevertheless, in San Francisco, prime Apple territory, some consumers were switching to the home team, and Apple stock has risen on expectations of a broader move.

"Some people might have already been thinking about making the switch and now here's their chance," said Robin Williams, a sales associate at Sprint store on Van Ness St in San Francisco, describing some customers moving to Apple.

Bob O’Donnell of TECHnalysis Research said Apple would benefit, "but I don’t think they are going to get all of it because Apple has a single product."

Samsung announced the recall of 2.5 million Note 7s in early September following numerous reports of the phones catching fire. On Tuesday, the South Korean tech giant that has long dominated the premium market pulled the plug on the $882 device in what could be one of the costliest product safety failures in tech history.

The news is a boon for Google, which last week announced a new line of Pixel smartphones, plunging the company into the hardware market that it has previously left to manufacturers such as Samsung. Samsung’s retreat will prompt consumers to take a closer look at Google’s phones.

And despite the reputational damage, Samsung will remain competitive for premium smartphone sales, analysts said. LG’s V20 smartphone will not arrive in the United States until the end of the month. Google’s Pixel phones do not ship until Oct. 20, and will only be available in the United States at Verizon.

"The Pixel has limited distribution," Tuong Nguyen, a research analyst at Gartner who saw Android companies aside from Google gaining the most from Samsung's woes.

For consumers seeking immediate replacements for the Galaxy Note 7, it may be easiest to go with another Samsung phone, said O’Donnell. “You can’t write off Samsung,” he said.

And Apple may have room to shine, especially before new Android phones arrive.

At a T-Mobile store in San Francisco, salesperson Omar Arreola said some Samsung customers were so upset with the company that they switched to the iPhone 7. "They trust the brand," he said.

Brian Green, whose Note 7 caught fire on a Southwest Airlines flight last week, also said he replaced his device with an iPhone. He raced to purchase the Note 7 after its release, but he said he is unlikely to be an early adopter again.

“Next time I think I'll wait and get it once it's been around the block a few times,” he said.</s>The South Korean technology giant urged its retail partners to stop sales and exchanges of its Note 7 that had been recalled in the U.S. after reports the handsets were catching fire

After weeks of bad press for the Note 7 smartphone, pressure is building on Samsung Electronics to give up on the troubled device.

The South Korean technology giant Tuesday urged its retail partners to stop sales and exchanges of its Note 7 that had been recalled in the U.S. after reports the handsets were catching fire. Samsung also instructed users of the original and replacement Note 7s to power down and store their devices until further notice.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission echoed Samsung’s statement, saying consumers should stop using the Note 7 due to concerns over more incidents of overheating.

Samsung had decided Monday to temporarily suspend production of the troubled device, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified because the decision wasn’t public

With the next version of the flagship Galaxy S due within six months, and a steep challenge ahead to win back consumers, retreat on the Note 7 may be a sensible option to focus on a future Note 8 instead.

“It’s meaningless to continue producing the Note 7,” said Greg Roh, an analyst at HMC Investment Securities in Seoul. “As for Galaxy S8, it is important for Samsung to release the product within schedule and shift its R&D focus to address safety concerns. Samsung needs to rebuild trust by updating the technology step by step.”

The Note 7 has gone from plaudits to condemnation within weeks, as rave reviews gave way to reports of devices catching fire and images of charred handsets just as new iPhones were coming out.

The crisis is the biggest faced by Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee, the heir apparent at the world’s biggest phone maker, who is struggling to contain the damage to the company’s brand and reputation for cutting-edge technology and production.

Samsung’s announcement follows the decision by key carriers AT&T, Bellevue-based T-Mobile US and Australia’s Telstra to stop sales of the device.

The recall has been particularly damaging because the large-screen Note series, along with the Galaxy S, represent Samsung’s main challengers to Apple’s iPhones for high-end customers. The devices are critical for profitability as they drive demand for the semiconductors and displays made by its components divisions.

“If Samsung Electronics continues to harm its brand image with Galaxy Note 7, this can affect the entire Galaxy S Series,” said Song Eun-jeong, IT hardware analyst at HI Investment & Securities.

Many people upgrade their phones during the holiday season, giving the Apple iPhone 7 and Google’s new Pixel device an opportunity to fill the Samsung vacuum in the large-screen smartphone market — and making it even harder for the South Korean company to bounce back.

The Pixel may be especially appealing to Samsung users looking for another device that runs the Android operating system.

“There’s been a shift toward bigger screen devices, and there’s less competition there given the Note 7 issue, so there’s definitely more opportunities for the iPhone 7 Plus,” said James Cordwell, an analyst at Atlantic Equities.

As for Google, he said, “The Pixel suddenly has got very limited competition at the high-end of the market.”</s>This Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016, photo shows a damaged Samsung Galaxy Note 7 on a table in Richmond, Va., after it caught fire earlier in the day. Samsung Electronics said Tuesday, Oct. 11, that it is discontinuing production of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones permanently, a day after stopping global sales of the ill-fated devices. (Shawn L. Minter via AP)</s>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Samsung said it is halting sales of the star-crossed Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after a spate of fires involving new devices that were supposed to be safe replacements for recalled models.

Separately, South Korean safety authorities said they found a new product defect in the Note 7 and urged consumers to stop using them. The officials did not publicly identify the defect.

In a statement issued late Monday, Samsung Electronics Inc. said consumers with original Note 7 devices or replacements they obtained after the recall should turn off the power and seek a refund or exchange them for different phones.

Officials from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission echoed that advice in their own statement, adding that they are continuing to investigate at least five incidents of fire or overheating reported since a formal recall was announced Sept. 15.

"No one should have to be concerned their phone will endanger them, their family or their property," said Elliot Kaye, chairman of the safety commission, in a statement. He called Samsung's decision to stop distributing the device "the right move" in light of "ongoing safety concerns."

The announcement follows several new incidents of overheating last week and deals a further blow to the world's largest smartphone company. Leading wireless carriers have already said they would stop distributing new Note 7 phones as replacements for the earlier recall.

Samsung said it would ask all carriers and retailers to stop selling the phones and providing them as replacements for recalled devices. It said consumers should return their phones to the place where they purchased them. They can also get information from the company's website .

Analysts say the new problems pose a crisis for the South Korean tech giant, which is locked in fierce competition with Apple and other leading smartphone makers.

"This has been a real black eye on the product," said Ben Bajarin, a consumer tech industry analyst with the Creative Strategies firm.

The new reports also raise questions about the cause and extent of the problem. Samsung blamed the battery problem on a manufacturing defect, although the company hasn't said which of its two battery suppliers made the faulty batteries or clarified whose batteries are used in which Note 7 smartphones.

"What's happened in the last few days just complicates things enormously," said analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research. "It calls into question their ability to manage quality control and everything else that goes into that."

Samsung gave no indication that it knows what caused the latest problems.

"We are working with relevant regulatory bodies to investigate the recently reported cases involving the Galaxy Note7," the company said in its statement, adding that "consumers' safety remains our top priority."

Earlier, a spokesman for the U.S. safety commission said his agency is investigating five Note 7 incidents reported since Sept. 15, although he said investigators had not confirmed whether all five involved recall replacements. But four consumers have told the Associated Press that their replacement phones caught fire — including two in Kentucky, one in Minnesota and one in Hawaii.

Dee Decasa of Honolulu had just visited the Samsung website on her new Galaxy Note 7 when it began smoking Sunday morning. She was double checking that the replacement phone she received was OK. She took a screen shot of the page confirming her new phone was fine.

"Then boom, there was like a pop. I had it in my hand and then smoke started spewing out, this green yucky thing," said Decasa, a bookkeeper.

She screamed for her husband and ran out of her bedroom. He grabbed an aluminum pan from the kitchen and told her to the put the phone in there. They called 911, and the phone was still sizzling when a policeman came about 20 minutes later.

Decasa said she thought "What happened? We were reassured these were the replacement ones." No one was injured.

Her husband said the plastic protective case his wife had around her phone may have protected her. Part of the plastic case appeared to have melted and got stuck to the aluminum pan.

The Decasas said Samsung is sending a representative to Honolulu Tuesday to meet them and examine her phone.

The Note 7 is not Samsung's most popular device; Samsung sells far more units of its Galaxy S7 phones than the more expensive Note 7 device. But analysts say the issue could hurt the company's reputation and overall standing with consumers.

Samsung sells about a third of all high-end smartphones priced above $400, while Apple sells slightly more than half, according to Credit Suisse investment analyst Kulbinder Garcha. He predicted in a report Monday that the new Note 7 problems will help Apple increase its share of the market.

Consumers can get more information from Samsung at http://www.samsung.com/us/note7recall/ or by calling (844) 365-6197.</s>Samsung has withdrawn all of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones from sale globally after a spate of fires involving “safe” replacements.

In a statement issued late on Monday, Samsung said consumers with original Note 7 devices or replacements they obtained after the recall should turn off the power and seek a refund or exchange them for different phones.

South Korean authorities said they had found a new product defect in the Note 7 – Samsung’s most popular smartphone – and also asked consumers to power them down or to exchange them. The statement did not identify the defect.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission said it is continuing to investigate at least five incidents of fire or overheating reported since a formal recall was announced on 15 September.

“No one should have to be concerned their phone will endanger them, their family or their property,” Elliot Kaye, chairman of the safety commission, said in a statement. He called Samsung’s decision to suspend all sales “the right move” in light of “ongoing safety concerns”.

The announcement follows several new incidents of overheating last week and deals a further blow to the world’s largest smartphone company. Leading wireless carriers have already said they would stop distributing new Note 7 phones as replacements for the earlier recall. 

Analysts say the new problems pose a crisis for the South Korean tech giant, which is locked in fierce competition with Apple and other leading smartphone makers.

“This has been a real black eye on the product,” said Ben Bajarin, a consumer tech industry analyst with the Creative Strategies firm.

The new reports also raise questions about the cause of the problem. Samsung has blamed batteries provided by a particular supplier while assuring consumers that the phone was otherwise safe. It said it solved the problem by switching to batteries from another supplier. 

Shawn Minter, 39, described the moment his Samsung Note 7 exploded on his nightstand, waking him up with a jolt. He had just gone to bed after a late shift at his restaurant in Richmond, Virginia, on 9 October when the incident took place.

“It sounded like a firework or a spaceship was about to take off,” he said. “I jumped out of bed and I saw a little red flash and then the phone started to burn and sizzle and melt.”

His wife, who was in the room next door with their eight-month-old son, came in “in a panic” to see the room filling with a thick white smoke. They opened the windows and then watched the smartphone, which wasn’t charging at the time, as it burned itself out.

The phone in question was a replacement device, given to Minter after Samsung recalled the Note 7 in the wake of multiple reports that it was prone to spontaneously combust.

Samsung has contacted Minter to arrange an inspection of the device, due to take place tomorrow. “They know it’s a replacement device,” Minter said.

Minter, a self-described Samsung fan, suggests that the South Korean company is more concerned about its public image than the safety of its users. “They are really trying to look like they are not losing to the iPhone.”

“What if the phone was in bed with me? What if it was somewhere unattended? What if I was driving in the car? You just don’t know when it’s going to take place. It’s like a ticking time bomb.”

Minter is one of several people to report that replacement devices have caught fire, starting with Southwest Airlines passenger Brian Green last week. Michael Klering from Nicholasville, Kentucky, said he woke up at 4am to find his room filled with smoke and his Note 7 on fire. Meanwhile in Minnesota a Note 7 exploded in 13-year-old Abby Zuis’ hand. There have also been reports of an explosion in the back pocket of a 26-year-old woman in Taiwan.</s>SEOUL, South Korea | Samsung’s crisis with its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone deepened Monday as the company confirmed it has adjusted its production following reports that newly released versions offered as replacements for recalled fire-prone devices have also overheated or caught fire.

The company, however, did not confirm or deny a report by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency earlier Monday that it has suspended production of the phones.

South Korean high school students try out Samsung Electronics Galaxy Note 7 smartphones at the company's shop in Seoul in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Samsung Electronics has temporarily halted production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Monday, following reports that replacements for the fire-prone phones were also overheating. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) A visitor tries out a Samsung Electronics Galaxy Note 7 smartphone at the company's shop in Seoul in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Samsung Electronics has temporarily halted production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Monday, following reports that replacements for the fire-prone phones were also overheating. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) A man passes by Samsung Electronics Galaxy Note 7 smartphones at the company's shop in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Samsung Electronics has temporarily halted production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Monday, following reports that replacements for the fire-prone phones were also overheating. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) Samsung Electronics Galaxy Note 7 smartphones are displayed at the company's shop in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Samsung Electronics has temporarily halted production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Monday, following reports that replacements for the fire-prone phones were also overheating. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) A worker cleans a window as posters of Samsung Electronics Galaxy Note 7 smartphone are displayed at the company's shop in Seoul in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Samsung Electronics has temporarily halted production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Monday, following reports that replacements for the fire-prone phones were also overheating. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

In a statement and in a regulatory filing, Samsung Electronics said it is “temporarily” adjusting the Galaxy Note 7 production schedule and production volume to “ensure quality and safety matters.” The company added that it will issue an update when more details are available.

Before the reports of a production suspension emerged, U.S. phone retailers AT&T and T-Mobile had already opted to stop giving new Note 7 replacement smartphones to consumers.

Samsung and U.S. authorities are investigating multiple reports of new Note 7 replacement smartphones catching fire, including a Samsung phone that emitted smoke and forced a Southwest Airlines flight in Kentucky to evacuate passengers. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating the incident.

The production change suggests fresh trouble for Samsung as it awaits the U.S. authorities’ investigation into the replacement phones. It had promised that its new Note 7 devices with a green battery icon were safe.

The reports of replacement phones catching fire raise doubts over whether the battery is the only problem in the fire-prone smartphone as Samsung has said. When it issued a global recall on Sept. 2, Samsung blamed batteries provided by one of its two battery suppliers and assured consumers that other parts of the smartphones were fine.

Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/youkyung-lee</s>SEOUL (dpa-AFX) - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SMSN.L, SSNNF.OB, SSNLF.OB) has temporarily halted production of its troubled Galaxy Note 7 following reports of fires in replacement devices, according to media reports, citing person familiar with the matter.



The decision may include Samsung's plant in Vietnam which is responsible for global supply of the device, Yonhap said. The decision was made considering global consumers' safety, the unidentified official said, according to Yonhap.



AT&T Inc. (T) and T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS) have both halted sales of the devices following reports of fires from the replacement devices.



On Sept. 2, Smartphone producer confirmed that it has stopped the sales of Galaxy Note 7 due to a battery cell issue. The company said it plans to replace the devices with faulty batteries with new one over the coming weeks.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX</s>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Yonhap says Samsung has temporarily halted production of Galaxy Note 7 after replacement devices catch fire.
Samsung announces an end of production of the Galaxy Note 7 after continued problems with its battery.