Samsung said, "Taking our customer's safety as our highest priority, we have decided to halt sales and production of the Galaxy Note 7."
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone is the only model involved in battery-fire situation and because of that, Samsung has stopped selling it and discontinued production. His predecessors the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 are not affected.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Samsung have formally recalled the Galaxy Note 7 because of overheating battery defect last month and put an exchange program into place to allow customers to get replacement versions.
Yet, after multiple reports of battery fires in the replacement Galaxy Note 7 devices, the South Korean tech giant announced this week that they were stopped all production and sales of the model. Samsung says it is investigating the battery situation.
So, what should you do if you have a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone?
1. If you have a Galaxy Note 7 (the original or replacement version), Samsung advises you to power down the phone immediately.
2. Also, you should contact the retail store or the wireless carrier where you purchased the phone for details about getting a full refund, or the possibility to exchange it for a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge device.
3. Those who bought a Galaxy Note 7 from Samsung's official website, or want more information about the recall, should visit www.samsung.com/us/note7recall or call the company at 1-844-365-6197.
4. Almost every major wireless carrier has stopped selling the model. Among those are AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile have already posted specific information in relation to Galaxy Note 7 refunds and exchanges.
5. Also, the electronics retailer Best Buy has added a page of information for its Galaxy Note 7 customers who want to know about how they can get a refund or exchange. There are some retailers that allow exchanging the Galaxy Note 7 for a smartphone from a different manufacturer, but you should check with your place of purchase.
Since the Galaxy Note 7's launch in August, Samsung has received more than 90 reports of battery overheating in the US, including 55 reports of device damage and 26 reports of burns, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said.
Experts from Samsung believe that a manufacturing flaw in the particular lithium-ion battery that that model uses was the cause of the inflammability. But they haven't able to pinpoint the problem at the moment.
Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the safety commission have issued formal warnings advising Galaxy Note 7 owners not to use, charge or pack their phones in checked baggage. The safety commission's official site has its own info about Samsung's recall and a form to report incidents with the smartphone.
