Three months after South Korean tech giant Samsung started to recall millions of Galaxy Note 7 because of exploding batteries, the Seoul-based company is still struggling with addressing the problem.
Samsung paid for full-page advertisements in Wall Street Journal, New York Times and The Washington Post – three of the most influential and expensive newspapers in the U.S. – to apologize to its customers, Betanews reported. However, despite these expensive placements and previous efforts by Samsung to recall the phones, there are still around 285,000 Galaxy Note 7 phones in the hands of consumers in the U.S.
To force them not to use their gadgets anymore and exchange it, Samsung sent Galaxy Note 7 owners in the U.S. an alert that it is permanently disabling the device. The handsets would no longer charge by Dec. 15, PCMag reported.
Samsung’s previous offer of a replacement phone remains for these holdout owners of the Galaxy Note 7. By next week, Samsing would push out the disabling update to further convince the owners turn in their cellular phones and exchange it for free for a safer unit.
It would be the second update by Samsung a few weeks after the company released an update a few weeks ago that limited phone charging up to 60 percent. Also on Dec. 15, Samsung would sever the WiFi, Bluetooth and cellular connectivity of all Galaxy Note 7 phones in Canada, BGR reported.
For current owners who feel awkward holding an Apple phone and would prefer units from Samsung, T-Mobile sells the Galaxy S7 Edge for $789.99 with no exploding battery woes.
However, the extreme action by Samsung is raising alarm among phone owners because while they recognize that in the case of the Galaxy Note 7, issuing the OTA update is for good. But the concern of consumers is it shows phone manufacturers have unlimited powers over phone owners that it can suddenly leave gadget owners stranded or unable to communicate on the strength of an OTA patch.