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Samsung halts Note 7 sales as more batteries explode

Johannesburg - Electronics giant Samsung have halted global sales of the Galaxy Note 7 amid reports of exploding batteries.

The company also said on Friday that, in the coming weeks, they will replace all Galaxy Note 7 devices for any customers who already have the handsets.

“Because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note7,” the company said on Friday.

In a statement Samsung said: “For customers who already have Galaxy Note7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks.”

However, the announcement may not have any effect on South African customers as the device is currently available for pre-order only and scheduled for release on September 23.

Samsung South Africa also told Fin24 that there was no word on whether the latest global recall of the product would have any effect on the release date. But the company said it would have an update next week.

READ: Exploding batteries delay Samsung Note 7 shipments

“Samsung is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take every incident report from our valued customers very seriously,” the statement said.

“In response to recently reported cases of the new Galaxy Note7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue,” it went further to read.

The South Korean company said that there had been a total of 35 cases that have been reported globally as of September 1 and that they were currently conducting a thorough inspection with suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market. 

Reports suggested that charging the device without the original charger led to the damages.

The highly anticipated 'phablet' smartphone was launched in South Africa in early-August, boasting a major upgrade and newer features when compared to its predecessor.

The Note 7 features a 5.7 inch display, a new iris scanner, a more powerful processor and a bigger battery than previous models.

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