Samsung Electronics intends to sell and recycle its Galaxy Note 7 mobile phone in South Korea despite battery issues and in an attempt to reduce waste.
Although the Galaxy Note 7 cost US$850 starting price, it will go on sale in South Korea this Friday for US$611.
The phones batteries are prone to overheat and catch fire; even though the phone was replaced with a new batch, the battery issues were not solved.
The company blames two battery makers after investigation, finding flaws in production and design.
According to the Daily Mail, overseas sales plants will be determined later, and the supply will be limited to 400,000 units.
Samsung said in a statement on there website: “Samsung is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take every incident report from our valued customers very seriously. In response to recently reported cases of the new Galaxy Note 7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue.”
“However, because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note7. For customers who already have Galaxy Note7 devices, we will voluntarily replace the current device with a new one over the coming weeks. For more information customers need to contact the customer service team on 0330 7261000.”
Samsung are creating a new Samsung Note Fan Edition (FE), a refurbished version of its Galaxy Note 7. “The new Note FE is part of its effort to minimise waste,” noted Samsung.
Written by Leah Alger
