Samsung recalls Galaxy Note 7 worldwide

According to recent reports, Samsung is halting sales of its recently-launched flagship Note 7 smartphone and recalling phones of this model sold worldwide after reports of several units catching fire due to battery problems.

The company examined a phone that had caught fire and confirmed a faulty battery was to blame, according to a news report. Of the roughly 1 million Note 7 handsets already sold, only 24 contain the potential problem, Samsung said late Friday in Seoul.

The Note 7 was launched in the Middle East on 9th August and is the latest from Samsung to include a fast charging feature, which attempts to replenish about 50 percent of the battery in about 30 minutes. That’s considerably faster than a traditional charge and can put the battery under additional stress.

Samsung issued an official statement on Friday regarding the Galaxy Note 7. The company says it has halted sales of the phablet worldwide, and that previously sold devices will be replaced “in the coming weeks.” The company says that a battery cell issue resulted in 35 reported problems worldwide with the Galaxy Note 7. Here is the official statement in full:

Samsung is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take every incident report from our valued customers very seriously. In response to recently reported cases of the new Galaxy Note 7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue.

To date (as of September 1) there have been 35 cases that have been reported globally and we are currently conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market. However, because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note 7.

For customers who already have Galaxy Note 7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks.

We acknowledge the inconvenience this may cause in the market but this is to ensure that Samsung continues to deliver the highest quality products to our customers. We are working closely with our partners to ensure the replacement experience is as convenient and efficient as possible.