On Tuesday, Samsung US came out with a statement saying that 96% of the ill-fated Samsung Galaxy Note 7 devices have been returned thus far. This news comes after the US Department of Transportation removed the requirement for airlines to display a pre-boarding notification regarding the danger the handset may pose on an aircraft, reflecting the high return rate of the device by affected users in the US. In the statement, Samsung went on to say that the high return rate is due to the fact that the South Korean firm has limited the ability of the device to work as a smartphone, including leveraging the digital technology in the phone, which was implemented via an update sent out to users.
In the US, Samsung began rolling out an update to all unreturned Galaxy Note 7 units in December, and this update bricked the device, rendering it useless as a smartphone, which forced users to return their phones, as was originally intended. The company is also working with US wireless carriers so that they push out the update to the remaining Galaxy Note 7 units on their networks, and this update has begun its rollout on December 27th.
The Galaxy Note 7 was originally launched back in August, and it received positive reviews from both tech critics and users alike. However, soon after the device went on sale, reports started surfacing about exploding batteries which caused some units to catch fire. Samsung then issued a worldwide recall of the smartphone, and an investigation was launched by the company. Soon after, customers were given replacement units, but mishaps regarding the device continued to surface, which forced Samsung to issue a second recall and permanently pull the plug on the Galaxy Note 7. At CES 2017, Tim Baxter, the head of Samsung US, mentioned that the firm will be revealing the report regarding the Galaxy Note 7 and the crisis it faced “very soon.” If you still happen to own a Galaxy Note 7, it is best to return it to Samsung before the company stops issuing refunds. As things stand right now, that’s bound to happen sooner rather than later.