Samsung said 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.
The company ordered the suspension of sales on the recommendation of South Korean safety officials, 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 Technology and Standards that overseas product recalls, said in a phone interview.
He said it would take more time than the agency originally thought to figure out what's wrong.
In the meantime, the agency is urging consumers not to use the phones.
Last month, Samsung issued a global recall. It blamed a tiny manufacturing error in the battery that it said made the phones prone to catch fire.
In a statement issued late Monday, Samsung Electronics Inc. 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.
Officials from the U.S. 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.S. was announced on Sept. 15.
"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.
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. It said consumers should return their phones to the place where they purchased them. They can also get information from the company's website .
Consumers can get more information from Samsung at http://www.samsung.com/us/note7recall/
