Tech giants Samsung had to recall their flagship phone, the Galaxy Note 7, after reports that its battery issues had caused it to explode.
Users of the phone in the US and South Korea claimed the phone “exploded” during or after charging.
Samsung says customers who bought the phone will be able to exchange it for a new one.
The News comes just one week ahead of the unveiling of a new iPhone model from Apple.
Speaking on the issue, the president of Samsung’s mobile business Koh Dong-jin told reporters.
“We have received several reports of battery explosion on the Note 7 that was officially launched on August 19… and it has been confirmed that it was a battery cell problem,”
Samsung, claims even though the phone was been launched in 10 countries so far, different countries supplied the batteries.
In recent times a number of users reported that their phones caught fire or exploded while charging, and Samsung said it has confirmed 35 such cases.
A YouTube user uploaded a video of a Galaxy Note 7 showing a burnt rubber casing and damaged screen under the name Ariel Gonzalez on 29 August, 2016.
He said the handset “caught fire” shortly after he unplugged the official Samsung charger, less than a fortnight after purchasing it.
Other pictures of a burnt Galaxy Note 7 were uploaded to Kakao Story, a popular social media site in Korea, on 30 August, 2016.
Another user wrote:
“There was another explosion of the Galaxy Note 7. It was my friend’s phone. A Samsung employee checked the site and he is currently in talks over the compensation with Samsung. You should use its original charger just in case and leave the phone far away from where you are while charging.”
The Galaxy Note 7 is the latest of Samsungs’ series of so called phablets and was launched on 19 August, 2016, and has been generally well-received by critics and consumers., even described as the best Samsung phone ever
With an iris scanner which lets users unlock the phone by detecting patterns in the eyes and other amazing features which put it ahead of even the S7, the brand was very optimistic about this one.
Samsung beat expectations with record earnings in the latest quarter with strong smartphone sales In July, helping the firm post its best quarterly results in more than two years.
Source: bbc.com
