The Samsung Galaxy Note7 Has Been Formally Recalled In The US For Explosion Risks
Roughly one million Samsung Galaxy Note7 phones have been formally recalled by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) due to the danger of the phone’s lithium ion batteries overheating and exploding.
According to the statement, users are entitled to a replacement or a refund of their phones, which retail for between $850 and $890.
Any phone sold before September 15, 2016 is subject to recall. If you own a Samsung Note7 and want to find out if your phone has been recalled, examine the IMEI number on the phone and either call Samsung— preferably on a separate phone! — or visit samsung.com.
The recall statement reads, “Samsung has received 92 reports of the batteries overheating in the U.S., including 26 reports of burns and 55 reports of property damage, including fires in cars and a garage.” Mexico and Canada have also recalled Note7, which went on sale August 19.
As early as September 2, the CPSC issued a warning about the potential for the battery cell in the phone to explode. Samsung by that point had already said it would “voluntarily replace” users’ devices because of the dangerous battery.
Following the cautionary statement, American airlines have been asking passengers to turn their Note7 phones off for the duration of flights. In a September 9th statement, the CPSC recommended that users stop charging the device altogether and power it down. The current recall reiterates those sentiments.
However, while sales of the Note7 dropped after reports of exploding batteries started surfacing, data from Apteligent shows that most people who already owned the phone hadn’t stopped using it.
Samsung’s president of Samsung’s mobile business, Koh Dong-jin said in a September 2 press conference, “It has been confirmed that it was a battery cell problem. There was a tiny problem in the manufacturing process, so it was very difficult to find out.”
The debacle has already cost Samsung $25 billion in market value, and the recall costs are estimated to be over $1 billion.
The recall could inspire other big markets, namely China, to recall the phone. Chinese media have noted that while Samsung has recalled 2.5 million phones in 13 countries, it has only recalled just under 2,000 phones in China.