The unexpected Galaxy Note 7 recall represents Samsung’s biggest embarrassment in recent history, and probably the most annoying scandal its mobile division ever experienced. The Galaxy Note 7 isn’t fighting the iPhone 7 Plus in store, as Samsung intended it to be. Instead, Samsung has to complete its recall before starting sales in the markets where the Android phablet was originally launched.
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Samsung already announced it exchanged about half of the Galaxy Note 7 units in America, which is around 500,000 units. In Korea, Samsung exchanged about 200,000 units, which is also about half of the faulty Galaxy Note 7 handsets sold before the recall. In light of that, Samsung decided to postpone the relaunch of the phablet in its home market by three days.
According to Reuters, the Galaxy Note 7 will be available in stores on October 1st. Samsung needed to postpone the launch to complete the recall in the country.
“The recall rate will likely fall sharply should new sales have resumed on September 28,” the company said in a statement. Samsung apologized on Sunday for the confusion caused by the delay, and said it would do its best to solve the Galaxy Note 7 situation quickly, Reuters says.
Customers won’t be able to exchange the phone through domestic carriers starting on October 1st, which will make the replacement process a lot more difficult.
It’s unclear at this time whether the relaunch delay has anything to do with the issues that affect safe Galaxy Note 7 units. Reuters makes no note of these incidents. A report last week said that some customers in Korea who replaced their devices found ran into other unexpected overheating and battery charging issues.
Samsung, meanwhile, has been instructed to conduct additional tests to ensure the replacement batteries are safe for customers.
