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Samsung Electronics’ woes mounted Friday with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission urging consumers to power down and stop charging or using their Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, after reports of the overheating and bursting of the lithium-ion battery in the device in some cases.
The warning follows aviation authorities and airlines worldwide banning the use of the device on board aircraft, after classing the smartphones has hazardous materials.
Before this, CPSC expressed concerns about how Samsung was handling the recall of the Galaxy Note 7, saying it should have been routed through the agency due to its scale.
Now the body has said it is working with the company to ensure official recall procedures are followed, but that users should turn off their Note 7s and not charge them at all.
Korean smartphone Samsung had to issue a voluntarily issued a recall last week for at least 10 markets, including the US, after reports surfaced that several Galaxy Note 7s had exploded while users tried to charge the device. Although no fatalities were reported Samsung itself acknowledged that nearly 35 cases were found to be authentic and more could be on the way.
Although no fatalities were reported Samsung itself acknowledged that nearly 35 cases were found to be authentic and more could be on the way.
The mammoth recall of close to 2.5 million devices and their subsequent replacement with brand new models according to analysts could cost Samsung nearly $5bn.
“The cost of the recall is going to be astronomical,” Jahan Rasty, product liability expert and chief executive of Real-World Forensic Engineering told Reuters. “They have to compensate people, fix the problem and give them a revised version of the product that doesn’t have the same manufacturing or design defect. The longer this story lingers, the more it will etch itself in people’s minds,” he said.
Agencies/Canadajournal
