Sale of Galaxy Note 7 Stopped by Samsung

It's been a bad week for smartphone-makers. After Apple Inc. was slapped with a $14.5 billion tax bill, global market leader Samsung Electronics has been forced to halt sales of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone due to a 'battery cell issue.' This follows reports from the U.S. and South Korea of the phones catching fire or exploding while charging.

The company has sold 2.5 million pieces since the the phone's launch on August 19 and will replace them all, according to a statement released today. A total of 35 claims have been registered as of September 1, which means as far as we know less than one percent of the phones sold were defective. Details of the U.S. product exchange program will be announced today. Carrier T-Mobile released a statement saying, "We will work closely with Samsung to ensure T-Mobile customers who have already purchased the device are well taken care of."

Pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 7 exceeded estimates and release dates in a few markets had to be adjusted so that Samsung could keep up with the demand. This new model in Samsung’s line of large-screen phones or “phablets” has an iris reader which allows users to unlock their phone simply by looking at it.

This is a serious blow for the South-Korean firm. Apple will be launching its iPhone 7 on September 7 and the Galaxy Note 7 release was timed ahead of it in order to deliver stiff competition. By the end of the second quarter of 2016, Samsung had nearly 10 percent more market share than Apple. While its market share rose to 22.3 percent from 21.8 percent, Apple’s fell from 14.6 percent to 12.9 percent.

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