The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) officially announced a recall of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 following reports of batteries catching fire or exploding.
The South Korean company has received 92 reports of batteries overheating in the U.S., according to the recall, including 26 reports of burns and 55 reports of property damage including fires in cars and a garage. The recall affects roughly 1 million units sold before September 15, 2016.
Consumers are advised to stop using the phone immediately, power it down and contact the vendor from which they bought it – the carrier, retail outlet or Samsung.com – to receive a refund, a new replacement device or a new Note 7 with a different battery.
Samsung issued a worldwide recall of the device nearly two weeks ago, but many owners had continued to use the device since that announcement.
The CPSC’s announcement underscores Samsung’s struggle to address concerns over its new, high-end phone. The world’s largest smartphone vendor has yet to disclose details about the battery problems, and in its previous worldwide recall announcement the company said it would replace devices in the market “over the coming weeks.”
Samsung has seen its market cap shrink by billions during the Galaxy Note 7 debacle, and analysts have estimated the company could lose $5 billion in revenue after accounting for the cost of recalling the 2.5 million units that must be replaced.
The recall comes at a particularly bad time for Samsung, which remains the top smartphone vendor in the world. The Galaxy Note 7 was positioned to compete at the top end of the smartphone market against the iPhone 7, which Apple introduced last week and which will come to market in the U.S. Friday. Preorders of the new iPhone have been strong, and sales are sure to be boosted in the coming weeks as Samsung struggles to recover from problems with its latest flagship phone.
Cnet reported that Samsung said Thursday that Note 7 replacement devices will be available in the U.S. by September 21 “at most retail locations.” But it’s likely to be months before analysts can gauge just how damaging the last few weeks have been for the company.
For more:
- see the U.S. CPSC recall announcement
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