It’s over. Samsung has stopped production of its troubled Galaxy Note7 smartphone completely, and will not build or sell any more.
Update 12/10 9:20AM: Samsung Australia has confirmed that production of the Note7 has been permanently discontinued, saying in a statement that “for the benefit of consumers’ safety, we stopped sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note7 and have consequently decided to stop production.”
Bloomberg Technology reports that a statement from Samsung confirms that production of the Note7 will not restart. According to Bloomberg, “production will stop, Samsung said in a statement Tuesday” in Korea.
From Samsung, in a statement obtained by Al Jazeera:
“We recently readjusted the production volume for thorough investigation and quality control, but putting consumer safety as top priority, we have reached a final decision to halt production of Galaxy Note 7s. Consumers with either an original Galaxy Note 7 or replacement Galaxy Note 7 device should power down and stop using the device.”
The move comes as a final step in the short, two-month life of the Samsung Galaxy Note7. The phone was unveiled to the world at an event in New York City on August 3. It went on sale to customers in Australia on August 19.
Sales of the phone were suspended due to battery issues causing devices to overheat and catch fire on September 2. That was escalated to a full recall a few days later on September 6.
Later in the month, stock of replacement Galaxy Note7s — with the battery issue apparently fixed — arrived in Australia on September 20. Customers who had returned their phone for an exchange were contacted and told they would receive trouble-free units.
That stock was distributed to Samsung’s customers and carrier partners, until ongoing battery issues and fires with replacement phones forced a second halt of sales and replacements that was confirmed yesterday.
Samsung Australia has told customers yesterday and today to switch off both original and replacement Galaxy Note7 phones, and to return them to their place of purchase. Customers in Australia will be offered a full refund or the option to exchange the phone for a Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge alternative handset.
Samsung stock has fallen as much as 8 per cent on the announcement and the previous day’s initial news of a temporary halt in production.
Comments
5 responses to “The Samsung Galaxy Note7 Is Officially Dead”
Why won’t the Facebook link work on Life hacker ?
Thank you for the update.
Keep in mind, if something goes wrong (eg. House fire), insurance almost certainly won’t pay up if there’s a recall and you don’t send it back.
Samsung has been and still is a ticking timebomb. This is one of many recalls of appliance. I avoid them because of a long history of safety recalls (eg. Washing machines and TVs). They are more problematic than most other reputable manufacturers.
Eg (one of quite a few).
I have a Galaxy J5 [dual SIM] and it works quite nicely, thank you.
I was actively considering the Note 5 – and I still consider it a valid option.
It will now be interesting to see if Telstra/Optus/Voda allow people out of their contracts as a result of this.
It’s a seriously major defect, and one that could have been very serious if a phone had caused a plane to go down with loss of life.
But it’s a Samsung, so I guess people who did buy it should have known there was always the chance of fire, or in the case of their top loading washing machine… explosions. http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/09/beware-of-samsungs-exploding-washing-machines/
I decided at the time of announcement I would hold out until the Note 8 only because it’s my favourite number and win-win if it turned out to be crap then the Note 7 would be cheaper at that point.
This isn’t the most reassuring way of getting to that point sooner.