Samsung Halts Sales Of Galaxy Note 7 After New Troubles

He said it would take more time than the agency originally thought to figure out what's wrong. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Samsung said Tuesday it is halting sales of the star-crossed Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after a spate of fires involving new devices that were supposed to be safe replacements for recalled models.

Dee Decasa holds her replacement Galaxy Note 7 smartphone in an aluminum pan at her home in Honolulu on Monday, Oct. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)

In the meantime, the agency is urging consumers not to use the phones. Last month, Samsung issued a global recall. 10, 2016, one day after the phone released smoke and sizzled.

The company ordered the suspension of sales on the recommendation of South Korean safety officials, http://ceritangewe.site/ who say they suspect a new defect in the replacement phones that may not be related to its batteries. "We would have not taken this measure if it had looked like the problems could be easily resolved," Oh Yu-cheon, a senior official at the Korean Agency for ghallme82.net Technology and http://parada.rs/ Standards that oversees product recalls, said in a phone interview.

Oh said the investigators are studying a different defect from the one Samsung said it had found in the first batch of Galaxy Note 7s. said consumers with original Note 7 devices or replacements they obtained after the recall should turn them off and seek a refund or exchange them for different phones. Consumer Product Safety Commission echoed that advice, saying they are investigating at least five incidents of fire or overheating reported since a formal recall in the U.

was announced on Sept. That's why we think there is a new defect," Oh said. Samsung said it is halting sales of the Galaxy Note 7 after a spate of fires involving new devices that were supposed to be safe replacements for recalled models. In a statement issued late Monday, Samsung Electronics Inc.

"The improved product does not have the same defect. Leading wireless carriers have already said they would stop distributing new Note 7 phones as replacements for the earlier recall. Samsung said it would ask all carriers and retailers to stop selling the phones and providing them as replacements for recalled devices. They can also get information from the company's website .

He called Samsung's decision to stop distributing the device "the right move" in light of "ongoing safety concerns. "No one should have to be concerned their phone will endanger them, their family or their property," said Elliot Kaye, chairman of the safety commission, in a statement. "

NEW OVERHEATING INCIDENTS

The announcement follows several new incidents of overheating last week and deals a further blow to the world's largest smartphone company.

It blamed a tiny manufacturing error in the battery that it said made the phones prone to catch fire. Analysts say the new problems pose a crisis for the South Korean tech giant, which is locked in fierce competition with Apple and other leading smartphone makers. "This has been a real black eye on the product," said Ben Bajarin, a consumer tech industry analyst with the Creative Strategies firm.

WHAT'S CAUSING THE FIRES? It said consumers should return their phones to the place where they purchased them. The new reports also raise questions about the cause and extent of the problem. "

Samsung did not indicate if it knows what caused the latest problems. Samsung has not said which of its two battery suppliers made the faulty batteries in the earlier Note 7s or clarified whose batteries are used in which Note 7 smartphones.

"We are working with relevant regulatory bodies to investigate the recently reported cases involving the Galaxy Note7," the company said in its statement. safety commission said his agency is investigating five Note 7 incidents reported since Sept. It said "consumers' safety remains our top priority.

"What's happened in the last few days just complicates things enormously," said analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research. But four consumers have told the Associated Press that their replacement phones caught fire — including two in Kentucky, one in Minnesota and one in Hawaii. "

Earlier, a spokesman for the U.

She took a screen shot of the page confirming her new phone was fine. I had it in my hand and then smoke started spewing out, this green yucky thing," said Decasa, a bookkeeper. She screamed for her husband and ran out of her bedroom. "Then boom, there was like a pop.

He grabbed an aluminum pan from the kitchen and told her to the put the phone in there. Decasa said she thought "What happened? AFTER THE FIRE

Dee Decasa of Honolulu had just visited the Samsung website on her new Galaxy Note 7 when it began smoking Sunday morning. We were reassured these were the replacement ones.

They called 911, and the phone was still sizzling when a policeman came about 20 minutes later. 15, although he said investigators had not confirmed whether all five involved recall replacements. Part of the plastic case appeared to have melted and got stuck to the aluminum pan. "It calls into question their ability to manage quality control and everything else that goes into that.

The Decasas said Samsung is sending a representative to Honolulu Tuesday to meet them and examine her phone. The company's shares fell 6. A BLOW TO SAMSUNG

The Note 7 is not Samsung's most popular device; Samsung sells far more units of its Galaxy S7 phones than the more expensive Note 7. He predicted in a report Monday that the new Note 7 problems will help Apple increase its share of the market.

Consumers can get more information from Samsung at website or by calling (844) 365-6197. But analysts say the issue could hurt the company's reputation and overall standing with consumers. ___

McAvoy reported from Honolulu. Business writer Youkyung Lee also contributed from Seoul. She was double checking that the replacement phone she received was OK.

Samsung said it is halting sales of the Galaxy Note 7 after a spate of fires involving new devices that were supposed to be safe replacements for recalled models. 10, 2016 photo taken in Honolulu shows Dee Decasa's replacement Galaxy Note 7 smartphone one day after the phone released smoke and sizzled. 2 percent by midday Tuesday in Seoul. Samsung sells about a third of all high-end smartphones priced above $400, while Apple sells slightly more than half, according to Credit Suisse investment analyst Kulbinder Garcha.

10, 2016 photo taken in Honolulu shows Dee Decasa's replacement Galaxy Note 7 smartphone one day after the phone released smoke and sizzled. Her husband said the plastic protective case his wife had around her phone may have protected her. Samsung said it is halting sales of the Galaxy Note 7 after a spate of fires involving new devices that were supposed to be safe replacements for recalled models.

"She's done with Note 7s right now," Zuis said of his daughter. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)

This Monday, Oct. Samsung Electronics has temporarily halted production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Monday, following reports that replacements for the fire-prone phones were also overheating.

(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)

This Friday, Oct. , shows the replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone belonging to his 13-year-old daughter Abby, that melted in her hand earlier in the day. (Andrew Zuis via AP)

A visitor tries out a Samsung Electronics Galaxy Note 7 smartphone at the company's shop in Seoul in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 7, 2016, photo provided by Andrew Zuis, of Farmington, Minn.

Reports of more replacement phones catching fire are trickling in, and the South Korean tech giant faces more scrutiny after earlier criticism for being slow to react and sending confusing signals in the first days of the recall.