Samsung is recalling Galaxy Note 7 phones because they’re bursting into flames

CNN reports that Samsung is set to recall an unspecified number of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones across the globe, following reports that some of the handsets are catching fire.

Samsung told CNN that it believed that problematic batteries were to blame, but its sister company Samsung SDI, which manufactures and supplies batteries for the Note 7, told Reuters that it received no information to suggest the batteries were faulty.

Samsung said in a statement that it was investigating the issue after it was reported by South Korea’s Yonhap News on August 31. It later confirmed that it had been alerted to as many as 35 cases of this issue worldwide. It will likely have to recall about 2.5 million handsets as per its production figures, reported by NPR:

A total of 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7's have been produced. Samsung is replacing everything already sold to consumers. Unsold phones recalled

— Elise Hu (일리스 후) (@elisewho) September 2, 2016

Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung’s mobile arm, said that Note 7 handsets sold in China used batteries from a different supplier and weren’t affected by the issue.

The news has reportedly caused Samsung to delay further shipments of the flagship device and knocked $7 billion off the company’s market value. The Note 7 was launched last month and received glowing reviews for its high-end hardware specifications, class-leading performance and comprehensive feature set.

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Update: Samsung has issued a statement concerning the recall:

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 Note7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue.

To date (as of September 1) there have been 35 cases that have been reported globally and we are currently conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market. 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 their current device with a new one over the coming weeks.

We acknowledge the inconvenience this may cause in the market but this is to ensure that Samsung continues to deliver the highest quality products to our customers. We are working closely with our partners to ensure the replacement experience is as convenient and efficient as possible.