The company late on Monday U.S. time said it was asking all telecom carriers and retailers that sell the Note 7 globally to stop sales and exchanges of the device pending investigation into the latest incidents. Major U.S. carriers already had made that move on their own.
Consumers with either an original or a replacement Note 7 should power down and stop using the device, said Samsung.
The Samsung announcement came after the company suspended production of the Note 7, a decision that raised questions about Samsung’s initial diagnosis of the problem, which attributed overheating batteries in some Note 7s to manufacturing issues at one of its suppliers. Samsung said last month that it stopped using batteries from that supplier.
The turn of events has shaken already-damaged confidence in the global recall of 2.5 million Note 7s that began more than a month ago, creating a headache for consumers, carriers and airlines worried that the smartphone’s faulty batteries could cause smoke or fires in midflight.
Shares in Samsung Electronics fell by more than 7% in Seoul Tuesday.
Verizon Communications Inc. Chief Executive Lowell McAdam on Monday said the recall was “a major black eye” for Samsung.
“This is by far the biggest concern I have seen in cellphones during my tenure,” said the CEO—a veteran of the wireless business since the 1980s—at an industry conference in Menlo Park, Calif.
“In my however many years in the market I have not seen a recall like this,” Mr. McAdam said.
Samsung didn’t immediately comment on Mr. McAdam’s remarks. The company’s statement Monday said “We remain committed to working diligently with appropriate regulatory authorities to take all necessary steps to resolve the situation.”
Samsung’s move Monday came after recent incidents in which owners reported problems with Note 7s that they said they had received as replacements as part of the recall. — The Wall Street Journal