Samsung shares plunge after Note 7 smartphone recall

The recall – the first involving Samsung’s flagship smartphone – dealt a major blow to the firm’s reputation at a time when it faces a growing challenge in all market segments.

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are now telling passengers to keep the phones switched off until they deplane. Considering the gravity of the situation, we urge all readers to turn in their Note 7 devices at the earliest.

USA regulators that have been upping protectionist barriers have slammed hard on Samsung Electronics even as the Korean smartphone giant has taken unusually fast and bold recall action on latest Galaxy Note7 devices on safety concerns after reports of batteries blowing up while charging. So we reached out to the USA call center and a representative said Note 7 users should power off the phone and bring it back to the retail location where it was purchased.

Shares in the firm – South Korea’s largest by value – dived 7.11 percent on the Seoul stock market by late morning to 1.46 million won ($1,318).

Reportedly, and which likely wouldn’t come as surprise right now, the battery of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 also gets hot. The strong verbal warning from US authorities came after Samsung Electronics willingly stopped selling the product after preliminary finding on battery defect in lithium-ion pack in some devices and offered to replace or refund the entire 2.5 million devices already sold over the last month.

When asked, “Did you lose trust in Samsung after the Galaxy Note 7 debacle?”

“We are asking users to power down their Galaxy Note 7s and exchange them as soon as possible”, Koh Dong-jin, Samsung’s mobile president, said in the statement.

In this September 8, 2016 photo, a Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 7 smartphone is displayed at the headquarters of South Korean mobile carrier KT in Seoul, South Korea. It said they could obtain rental handsets for temporary use.

The tech giant said in a statement last week that there had been 35 reported cases of phones with “a battery cell issue” and that it would replace devices that had already been sold.

That same day, Samsung and fire officials said they would be launching investigations after a Florida family said that a Galaxy Note7 smartphone had exploded in their Jeep on Labor Day, setting the entire vehicle on fire and destroying it.