Samsung Elec says to halt Galaxy Note 7 sales on battery problem

SEOUL, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Friday it will halt the sales of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones and will prepare replacement devices for phones already sold after finding problems with the battery cell used. Koh Dong-jin, head of the South Korean company's smartphone business, expressed regret over the recall, which will affect markets including South Korea and the United States, at a news conference on Friday. Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung's mobile business, said customers who had already bought Note 7s will be able to swap them for new smartphones, regardless of when they purchased them. SECOND-HALF HOPES

Samsung has said it aimed for the Note 7 to maintain strong sales momentum in the second half of the year against stiffening competition from the likes of Apple, which is widely expected to release its latest iPhone next week. He added that while phone combustions are unusual, "35 instances are 35 too many." Koh Dong-jin, head of the South Korean company’s smartphone business, declined to comment on how many phones needed to be replaced, but said Samsung had sold 2.5 million of the premium devices so far. The manufacturer plans to replace not only phones with faulty batteries sold to consumers, but also retailer inventories and units in transit. Nevertheless, the reason we made this decision is because what is most important is customer safety.”

Customers’ reports of scorched phones prompted Samsung to conduct extra quality controlling tests and delay shipments of the Note 7s this week before the recall. Further roll-outs have occurred since in markets like China, where sales started just this week.
Samsung Electronics recalls all Galaxy Note 7 smartphones that have fire-prone batteries, and halts sales in 10 markets. A Samsung official says phones with the problematic battery account for less than 0.1 percent of those sold.