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12/22/2024 05:01:21 pm

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After Global Recall, 2 Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Phones Catch Fire in China

Two Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones Catches Fire in China.

(Photo : Getty Images) Two Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones have reportedly caught fire in China barely days after Samsung recalled 1,858 units of the smartphone in the country.

Two Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones have reportedly caught fire in China. If confirmed, this would be first such case in China, the world's largest smartphone market.   

This news comes just days after Samsung recalled 1,858 units of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in the Chinese market. The decision to make the recall was made after the device was found to have fire-prone batteries.

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ABC News reported that the local media came to know about the incidents through social media after a Chinese citizen posted a message on his social media account claiming that his friend's Note 7 had abruptly caught fire over the weekend.

The owner of Note 7 informed The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that the phone was bought from a popular Chinese e-commerce site on September 1. He claimed that before the explosion, the phone had started to heat up and vibrate.

Samsung contacted the owner on the following day and offered him the entire refund for the damaged phone, but he refused the offer, according to his friend.    

In a similar case, another Chinese citizen has revealed on social media that his Note 7 smartphone exploded while he was playing a game on it. He posted photos of the damaged phone and its serial number on his social media account.

Samsung officially launched the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone in China on September 1 amid growing reports from other countries that the phone was catching fire due to defected batteries.

The company decided to recall 2.5 million Note 7 phones from 10 countries, but excluded China from the recall. Koh Dong-jin, Samsung's mobile president, said that since Note 7 phones in the country were manufactured using different batteries, China was not included in the recall decision.

However, last week Samsung took everyone by surprise by deciding to recall 1,858 units of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in the Chinese market. The company claims that these phones were sold before the device was officially unveiled in the country on September 1 and hence may contain fire-prone batteries.

Samsung is facing flak over its recall policies, which experts say has left consumers confused about whether or not the Galaxy Note 7 is safe to use. While announcing the global recall on September 2, the company did not clarify whether customers can continue to use the Note 7 phones without any hesitation.

A few days later Samsung requested all Note 7 customers to immediately switch off the phone. Last week, the company announced that it is releasing a new software update to fix the battery overheating problem.

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