Following AT&T and T-Mobile stopping sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7, Verizon, Sprint and Best Buy have joined in. Now across the pond, the UK carriers are beginning to do the exact same thing. EE and Vodafone have already announced that they are indeed stopping exchanges – the Galaxy Note 7 hadn’t yet gone back on sale in the UK. Vodafone also noted in a statement to Android Central today, that they are not aware of any battery fires with the Galaxy Note 7 from their customers. But obviously safety is a top concern for Vodafone here, as it should be.
Now the other two major UK carriers, O2 and Three, haven’t actually announced that they are pulling exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7. But they did note that they are in contact with Samsung over the Galaxy Note 7, and it’s implied that they may stop exchanges of the device as well. O2 reiterated that safety is their top concern with their customers, and are reviewing their options with Samsung right now.
Many are of the belief that Samsung may issue an unprecedented second recall for the Galaxy Note 7, after many replacement Galaxy Note 7’s that were deemed “safe” began catching fire last week. Samsung hasn’t officially initiated a second recall, but that may happen before the end of the week. They are altering their production of the Galaxy Note 7 so that they can find out what the cause is of these devices catching on fire, and in other instances, smoking. Either way, the PR nightmare continues for the South Korean company, and it definitely came at the wrong time, with Apple, LG and Google all launching their own flagship smartphones this month (iPhone 7 actually launched last month).
It’s safe to say that the Galaxy Note name is tarnished beyond recognition now. Once being one of the more popular brands in the industry – behind the Galaxy S and iPhone – the Galaxy Note brand may be replaced next year with something else. Samsung hasn’t confirmed this, but after all the issues that the Galaxy Note 7 has faced in its short life cycle, it wouldn’t be a surprise.