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In the ongoing Galaxy Note7 saga, today's chapter includes another drastic measure taken by Samsung in the USA to encourage reluctant owners of the phone to pretty please, come on, it's time already, stop using their device and return it. So after issuing an OTA in the US that limits the battery capacity to 60% in November, Samsung has scheduled another update that will completely prevent the phone from charging.
Though Samsung's Note7 is now officially off shelves, the headaches are not yet over. Beyond the continued, embarrassing efforts to keep the phones off of planes and the expected loss of over $3 billion, Samsung will now be dealing with legal troubles related to the Note7 as well. Consumers in the United States and South Korea have just announced their intent to file class action lawsuits.
Following two days of non-stop news on carriers halting sales, reports of Samsung temporarily stopping production, and official partners disabling apps on the device, the only piece of news that could conceivably be next has arrived: Samsung will permanently discontinue production and sales of the Note7 worldwide, with filings made to regulators in South Korea.
I've not been near a Note7 when it explodes, but having watched videos and seen pictures of said event, I'm assured fire, heat, and general explosiveness are involved. Probably best, then, not to use it with Samsung's Gear VR headset. With that said, Oculus has duly disabled the Gear VR app on the Note7, in the interests of safety.
The latest chapter in Samsung's ongoing Note7 nightmare has unfolded with the company's official statement on the new wave of battery fires. It says all owners of the Note7 should immediately turn off the phone while Samsung continues its investigation. This includes any original Note7 devices that might still be floating around as well as the replacements.
The Galaxy Note7 is in full-on product free-fall right now. Retailers are pulling it off shelves, Samsung has stopped production, and the once-deemed-"safe" versions of the phone are very obviously not. Things, frankly, could not have gone worse for Samsung. The Note7's launch has been brought to a screeching halt, and while many consumers may have been OK with Samsung's first battery fire flub given the relatively quick turnaround and response, this second round simply has no hope of retaining that goodwill.
AT&T, speaking to The Verge, has confirmed the US's second-largest mobile operator will no longer sell the Galaxy Note7 smartphone because of recent incidents with units catching fire (i.e., on planes). AT&T did not provide any window as to when or if sales might resume, but you can probably assume the halt is indefinite, contingent upon the result of Samsung and various agencies' investigations. Bloomberg reported AT&T was considering the move on Friday.
The first replacement Samsung Galaxy Note7 devices with non-exploding batteries started reaching retailers a few weeks ago. Owners have been repeatedly urged to turn in their defective phones, lest they burst into flames. Southwest Airlines passenger Brian Green had one of those replacement Note7s, but that didn't stop it from catching fire this morning as he waited for his flight from Louisville to Baltimore to leave the gate.
The Galaxy Note7 recall, despite Samsung's best efforts, has severely hurt the company's public image. I do give Samsung credit for not only acknowledging that they messed up, but working as hard as possible to address the issue. Tim Baxter, President & COO of Samsung Electronics America, recently made a public statement on behalf of the company to address the Note7 recall.
Samsung is currently working to recall all the Galaxy Note7 devices it sold in the last month because of the well-known risk of battery failure. Knowing if your Note7 is affected right now is easy—if you have a Note 7, it's recalled. In the future, you might not know for certain when you see a Note7. Samsung's online IMEI check tool is now available to verify if a device is recalled or not.
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- Here are the plans from the big 4 US carriers regarding this recall.
Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 sales won't be exploding anymore and neither will its batteries. Yesterday, Yonhap reported that the South Korean juggernaut was about to announce a global recall of its Note7 flagship due to recurrent incidents of exploding devices while charging, and now the news is official.