South Korean tech giant was already in the process of halting production of their Galaxy Note 7, when increased fire scares forced them to kill the said model altogether. The handset owners can now either exchange their phones for a full refund or buy any other Samsung phone.
The company announced on their website that they are terminating the production of Galaxy Note 7. They also added that Galaxy Note 7 will not be available for sale or exchange for the safety of their customers.
The repeated instances of exploding batteries in September insisted Samsung to recall as many as 2.5m mobile phones. These devices were replaced and deemed safe by the company's quality check department. However, there were soon reports that the replaced devices were also catching fire.
Not only was a flight evacuated after instance of Galaxy Note 7 emitting smoke in the airplane cabin, another user also reported waking up up to a bedroom that was full of smoke coming out of a Note 7 that was replaced by the company, BBC News reported.
Until late Monday evening, a company spokeswoman stressed that the phones were safe to use. However, the next day, Samsung announced that they have decided to stop the production of this handset.
Meanwhile, the authorities in US and South Korea are scrutinizing the handsets to understand why even the replaced phones were still catching fire, despite being equipped with safer battery.
This incident can singlehandedly threaten the consumers' faith in the world's largest smartphone manufacturer. The reason why people don't mind paying a little extra for brands like Apple or Samsung is because of the quality guarantee and reliability. However, a life threatening incident such as exploding batteries can have a serious impact on Samsung's brand image and can cost the company heavily to regain the lost trust.
