Following a spate of spontaneously combusting phones, Samsung has halted production of its Galaxy Note 7 device.
According to South Korean newswire Yonhap, an anonymous official from one of Samsung’s suppliers said the company has temporarily suspended production of its latest smartphone. The decision was made in an effort to comply with consumer safety regulations in China, the United States and South Korea.
"This measure includes a Samsung plant in Vietnam that is responsible for global shipments [of the Galaxy Note 7]," the unnamed official told Yonhap.
While the Vietnamese economy is reaping the benefits of Samsung’s lucrative electronics business, smartphone users worldwide are not enthused by the Galaxy Note 7. Last month, Samsung issued a global recall of the product, offering to replace faulty phones and batteries, The Guardian reports. However one such replacement phone caught fire last week on a Southwest Airlines flight in the US, prompting flight attendants to evacuate the plane.
As a result, mobile carriers are no longer exchanging the faulty Galaxy Note 7s and, according to CNN Money, Samsung has instructed consumers to power down their smartphones and stop using them immediately.
CJ Heo, a fund manager at Alpha Asset Management, told The Guardian that Samsung will likely recover from any short-term damage to its reputation, however Heo expected the company’s sales to suffer.
“I thought the Note 7 matter was coming to an end, but it’s becoming an issue again,” he told the news outlet.
[Photo via Softpedia]
