Samsung kills off the Note 7 for good, following second batch of fires

Update: Samsung has now announced it is permanently ceasing production of the Galaxy Note 7, just 53 days after the phablet first went on sale.  

“We recently readjusted the production volume for thorough investigation and quality control, but putting consumer safety as top priority, we have reached a final decision to halt production of Galaxy Note 7s,” the company said.

“For the benefit of consumers’ safety, we stopped sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7 and have consequently decided to stop production.”

This is a huge blow to Samsung, but not altogether unexpected. As you’ll see at the bottom of this article, just yesterday I was speculating that this could be it, and it has indeed come to pass. What this will mean for the long term future of the Galaxy brand – and indeed, all of Samsung’s phone division – remains to be seen.

The original article – where the pause was cited as temporary – continues below.

It all seemed to be going so well for Samsung. The South Korean firm’s handsets were getting universally glowing reviews across the board, Apple was struggling to convince people of the wonders of life without a headphone jack, and the Galaxy Note series was so missed in Europe that people had signed petitions demanding its return. What better time to launch a brilliant phablet in Britain?

It delivered. The phablet reviewed brilliantly. Then the explosions started.

Samsung, it has to be said, initially did the right thing. It halted sales, and triggered a worldwide recall until the rogue battery issue could be fixed, replacing every Note 7 free of charge. But now at least three replacement Note 7 devices have caught fire in a week.

Some networks have had enough. In the US, both AT&T and T-Mobile have said they will stop replacing the Note 7, and the latter has, for the moment at least, given up on it completely, saying: “while Samsung investigates multiple reports of issues, T-Mobile is temporarily suspending all sales of the new Note 7 and exchanges for replacement Note 7 devices.” AT&T meanwhile is advising customers to trade in their handsets for other devices.

Could it be the end of the road for the troubled phablet? Well, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports that Samsung has paused production of further Note 7 handsets. The move, revealed by an unnamed official, is only cited as a temporary measure, but it’s hard to imagine the handset having much life left in it if safety concerns can’t be convincingly resolved.