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| In this July 28, 2016, file photo, a screen magnification feature of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is demonstrated, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) |
SEOUL - Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Saturday it recommends South Korean customers to stop using the Galaxy Note 7 phones, which the company is recalling due to faulty batteries prone to catching fie.
Samsung, in a statement posted online, said it will offer rental phones to customers who turn in their Galaxy Note 7 and reiterated that it plans to have Galaxy Note 7 devices with a safe battery ready to give to customers affected by the recall starting Sept 19.
On Friday, a US government safety agency urged all consumers to stop using Galaxy Note 7 phones, while top airlines globally banned their use during flights.
Following reports that the phones' batteries have combusted during charging and normal use, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said it was working on an official recall of the devices and that users should turn them off in the meantime.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it was working with the agency. It voluntarily issued a recall last week for 10 markets including the United States, and it was expediting shipments of replacement phones to customers.
The scale of the recall for Samsung is expected to be unprecedented. Some 2.5 million of the premium devices have been sold worldwide, the company has said. Its shares closed down 3.9 percent on Friday.
Samsung said users in the United States can exchange their phones for one of several models and receive a $25 gift card.
"The cost of the recall is going to be astronomical," said product liability expert and chief executive officer of Real-World Forensic Engineering, Jahan Rasty. "They have to compensate people, fix the problem and give them a revised version of the product that doesn't have the same manufacturing or design defect.
"The longer this story lingers, the more it will etch itself in people's minds," he said.
On Saturday, Scandinavian Airlines announced banning passengers from using the Samsung Note 7 smartphone on its flights because of concern about fires.
SAS spokesman Fredrik Henriksson says he expects "good understanding from our customers" to not use or charge one, or stow it in checked baggage.
Henriksson told The AP that it was a "ban, not just a recommendation" like the one issued Friday by the Federal Aviation Administration which said it can't prohibit the devices until the Consumer Product Safety Commission issues a recall.
Singapore Airlines already has prohibited the use or charging of the Galaxy device during flights while others have said they would tell passengers not to check the Galaxy phone and to leave it switched off during flights.
