Samsung offers Galaxy Note7 owners $100 to stick with the company as it expands product recall
The cost of Samsung's explosive and disastrous Galaxy Note7 launch just keeps on mounting up. Having previously offered Galaxy Note7 owners $25 for anyone seeking a refund on their handset or switching to another brand, the company is now dangling the promise of a $100 sweetener to anyone willing to try their luck with another Samsung phone.
The expansion of the refund and exchange program starts today, and is accompanied by near-grovelling from Samsung president and COO Tim Baxter. Samsung is currently counting the financial cost of the recall -- but would the promise of a nice, crisp Benjamin be enough to entice you back?
Samsung cuts Q3 profit estimate by $2.3 billion due to Galaxy Note7 recall
After the continued difficulties and now recall of its Galaxy Note7 smartphone, Samsung has cut its third quarter profits forecast by $2.3 billion after issuing much higher figures only last week.
The company made the announcement that it would be cutting its profits forecast during a surprise regulatory filing after South Korea's financial markets had closed for the day. This week has been particularly bad for Samsung after it was forced to completely scrap the Galaxy Note7 as the replacement batteries it shipped to consumers were also prone to overheating and exploding.
Rumors of the OnePlus 3's death have been greatly exaggerated
That the Samsung Galaxy Note7 was killed off hardly came as a surprise, but rumors also started to circulate this week that the OnePlus 3 was to be discontinued. While OnePlus has not suffered from any problems, delays in getting orders out to customers led to speculation that there was a new phone in the pipeline and that production on the OnePlus 3 had come to an end.
Nonsense! Says OnePlus. The company reassures us that it is "still producing and selling the OnePlus 3". There is, however, a slight problem with the supply chain.
Oculus drops support for Samsung Galaxy Note7 to keep users safe
It is tough being a Galaxy Note7 user. First, Samsung tells customers to exchange their units for a safe one, following reports of exploding batteries. Next, the "new" Galaxy Note7 devices start catching fire too, after it was revealed that their batteries have issues as well. And, now, Samsung decides to stop production altogether, discontinuing its latest Android flagship across the globe.
What's more, because the Galaxy Note7 is clearly not safe to use, Oculus has dropped support for the Android flagship, introducing a forced update for the app that enables the Gear VR headset to work with the device.
Samsung permanently discontinues Galaxy Note7
The troubled Galaxy Note7 is being killed off completely. The news comes after Samsung's statement yesterday that it was asking carriers and retail partners to cease sales and exchanges while an investigation is carried out into handsets catching fire or exploding.
But now the company has filed papers with South Korean regulators in which it says it will permanently cease sales of the beleaguered smartphone. The decision follows earlier reports that production was on hold temporarily.
Samsung orders the global shutdown of both sales and exchanges of Galaxy Note7
Sigh. The Galaxy Note7. What should have been a wildly popular and successful smartphone has become synonymous with failure, and fodder for jokes. As everyone knows, the phone has been exploding and catching fire, creating serious risk for consumers.
The phone was eventually recalled and replaced, although that process was bungled by Samsung -- there was much confusion. Not to mention, there was criticism that the recall was not initially an official one. With the issues seemingly in the rear view mirror, the scandal was over, right? Wrong. Now, the replacement models are reportedly exploding too. Enough is apparently enough. Following rumors that production of the phone was being ceased, today, Samsung orders the global shutdown of both sales and exchanges of Galaxy Note7.
Samsung ceases production of Galaxy Note7 as replacement phones catch fire
The Galaxy Note7 has been nothing short of an unmitigated disaster for Samsung. Problems with exploding batteries wiped billions off the value of the company and led to a recall, but it soon transpired that even replacement handsets were problematic, with a number of reports of replacement handsets overheating, catching fire, or exploding.
Now South Korean news agency Yonhap reports that Samsung has temporarily suspended production of the flagship Android smartphone. It's a move that will unnerve investors, but one that is being carried out in conjunction with safety regulators from South Korea, the United States and China.
Samsung could be facing another Galaxy Note7 recall
The Galaxy Note7 is back on sale in some markets, but that does not mean that the new units Samsung is shipping are perfectly safe. A passenger on a Southwest Airlines flight says that his replacement Galaxy Note7 caught fire, causing minor damage to the plane and the flight to get canceled.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has opened an investigation, basically to find out whether another recall is in order. "If it’s the fixed phone and it started to smoke in his pocket, I’m going to guess there’ll be another recall", says the agency's former executive director, Pamela Gilbert. Does a second recall sound unlikely at this stage? No.
You can now buy a Samsung Galaxy Note7 again
Things are slowly but surely starting to move in the right direction again for Samsung and its troublesome Galaxy Note7 flagship. Most affected units have been sent back, with the vast majority of customers opting to have their device replaced with a "new" -- or safe -- one. The only main thing left to do for Samsung is make the Galaxy Note7 available again.
During the recall, Samsung paused sales of the Galaxy Note7 to avoid introducing even more potentially dangerous units on the market. But now that there are enough safe Galaxy Note7 devices in stock, potential customers in some markets can get their hands on the flagship again.
Replacement Samsung Galaxy Note7 has battery problems too
Samsung can't seem to catch a break with the Galaxy Note7 recall. For a while it looked like the replacement devices would put the exploding battery concerns to bed, but now it appears that the saga may be far from over.
The new batteries may no longer be a fire hazard, but follow-up reports from customers who have received replacement Galaxy Note7 units in South Korea reveal that they come with their own set of issues.
Most US Samsung Galaxy Note7 users choose replacements over refunds
Another day, another development in the Galaxy Note7 recall. This time, Samsung indicates that it is making good progress getting US customers to turn in their affected units, after a report by Apteligent released earlier this month revealed consistent usage rates following the recall program's introduction.
Samsung says that it has exchanged "about half" of the Galaxy Note7 units that it has sold in the US. The company has already shipped 500,000 safe devices in the country, and is believed to have sold around one million units before the recall news broke.
Many reports of exploding Samsung Galaxy Note7 units are false
We have heard lots of stories about exploding Galaxy Note7 devices, but how many of them are actually true? In another episode of the Galaxy Note7 recall saga, Samsung has revealed that it has received multiple false reports from consumers claiming that their new smartphone caught fire, suggesting that, perhaps, there are fewer destroyed units in the wild than we have been lead to believe.
Samsung says that it has dealt with 26 such reports from alleged Galaxy Note7 owners, and that in 12 cases it has been unable to find an issue with those devices. What about the rest of the claims?
How to tell if your replacement Samsung Galaxy Note7 is safe to use
Samsung recalled the Galaxy Note7 earlier this month following reports of exploding batteries, and promised to replace the affected units free of charge. To make it easy for customers to find out whether their device should be exchanged, the company has released an official IMEI lookup tool that informs them if the built-in battery is safe to use or not.
And for those who receive a replacement unit -- and for new users -- Samsung has added some visual identifiers to help folks figure out if they are looking at a revised (safe to use) Galaxy Note7. There are two major changes, over the affected units, that you should look for.
What to do if your Samsung Galaxy Note7 explodes
The Samsung Galaxy Note7 is a new phone that’s on fire. Literally. The phones are catching on fire, forcing Samsung to make the unprecedented move to recall all of the phones from around the world.
Cell phone batteries occasionally explode because they utilize lithium ion battery packs. The liquid lithium is highly flammable. Modern phones are designed incredibly thin, so there’s only a slight barrier between the positive and negative sides of a battery. If that barrier is punctured, electricity flows in and heats up the flammable lithium. That’s when an explosion occurs.
How to check if your Samsung Galaxy Note7 is likely to catch fire
As you’ll no doubt know by now, Samsung has recalled its Galaxy Note7 smartphone because there is a danger of the battery exploding. An OTA update that limits the charging capacity of the battery has been issued which should reduce the danger, but if you own a Note7, you need to be looking to return it as quickly as possible.
The chances of your phone catching fire are slim, but even so you don’t really want to be carrying what is potentially a small bomb around with you. Here’s how you can check if you’re at risk.
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