US safety regulators have announced a formal recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 after reports of fires caused by faulty batteries. (Photo : Getty Images/ George Frey)
US Federal consumer safety regulators on Thursday formally ordered a recall of 1 million Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones after dozens of reports that the device caught fire while charging. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission told users to "immediately stop using and power down" the device.
According to CNN, Samsung, a South Korean tech giant said on Sept. 2 that it would stop distributing Galaxy Note 7s with Tim Baxter, president of Samsung Electronics America saying that "the safety of consumers is always our highest priority" and so, the company would speed up its recall.
So far, the company has received 92 reports of the batteries overheating in the U.S., including 26 reports of burns and 55 reports of property damage from fires, the CPSC said.
The federal agency says Samsung Galaxy Note 7 users can get a free replacement from Samsung, the retail outlet where the bought the phone or their wireless carrier. On Thursday, Samsung said that the new Galaxy Note 7 will be in most stores no later than Sept. 21.
During the recall, Elliot Kaye, chairman of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission urged all consumers to take advantage of the recall right away as the product presents such a serious fire hazard.
Mr Kaye added that Samsung should not have tried to do the recall by itself, saying: "Anybody who thinks that a company going out on its own will provide the best recall for that company, and more importantly for the users, needs to have more than their phone checked."
The dangers of using a recalled Note 7 were rare, its battery problem affected 0.1% out of the 2.5 million phones sold globally since August, but the problem has caused a headache for the world's largest smartphone maker.
Meanwhile, while Samsung hammered out its formal recall plan with U.S. regulators, the US Department of Transportation told airline passengers to turn off the phones when flying due to the safety risk. Passengers were also advised against packing the phones into any checked-in luggage, BBC News reported.
A number of airlines around the globe also banned the Galaxy Note 7 phone from being used or charged on their planes. This week, New York City's transit system also followed.
The CPSC urged Note 7 owners last week to turn off their phones even though a replacement version had yet to finalize.
#Recall: 1M @SamsungMobileUS #GalaxyNote7 smartphones; serious burn/fire hazard; Act Now: https://t.co/6v1egZIrRm pic.twitter.com/UFp7e1eTi6
— U.S. CPSC (@USCPSC) September 15, 2016
Following Thursday's formal recall, the transport department revised its warning and said Galaxy Note 7 users must not only turn off the device on airplanes, but should also protect the power switch "for the phone not to get activated unintentionally."
Samsung has offered other solutions to consumers outside the U.S. In its South Koreas' home market, the company says that on Monday it will reveal a new "battery-problem-free" Note 7 phone. It is also offering a software patch in that country that prevents affected phones from charging about 60%.
The recall came at a particularly bad time for Samsung as its rival, Apple's (AAPL, Tech30) much-anticipated iPhone 7 debuts Friday.
Here is a video of the US formal recall of Samsung Galaxy Note 7:
