Samsung adjusting Note 7 production schedule to ensure quality, safety

Following reports of Samsung temporarily suspending the production of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, the South Korean giant on Monday issued a statement saying the company is "adjusting the device's production schedule to ensure quality and safety".

"We are temporarily adjusting the Galaxy Note 7 production schedule in order to take further steps to ensure quality and safety matters," US-based technology website Android Central quoted a company statement as saying.

Amid reports that some Note 7 replacements have caught fire, Yonhap news agency on Monday reported that Samsung has temporarily suspended the production of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.

"This measure includes a Samsung plant in Vietnam that is responsible for global shipments (of the Galaxy Note 7)," a company official said.

Samsung started selling the Note 7 in South Korea on August 19 but announced a global recall of 2.5 million units in September following reports of some of the devices catching fire while being charged.

The company has encouraged owners of the Note 7 to swap their devices with new ones, but recently a replacement Note 7 device reportedly caught fire on a US flight, leading to cancellation of the flight after evacuation.

According to The Verge, Southwest Airlines flight 994 from Louisville to Baltimore was evacuated during the boarding process after a smoked Galaxy Note 7 was spotted.

The owner of the device said that the phone was letting off a "thick grey-green angry smoke" and had burnt through the carpet and "scorched the subfloor of the plane".

Recently, India's civil aviation regulator lifted the restrictions on in-flight use of the new Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone -- but only those purchased after September 15.

On September 9, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had prohibited the use of the high-end smartphone on-board aircraft.

Despite the global recall of this flagship device, Samsung Electronics on Friday released a positive forecast for the third quarter of this year, expecting operating profits of 7.8 trillion Korean won (approx $7 billion) and revenues of 49 trillion Korean won.

The operating profits are a 5.6 per cent increase on the same period a year ago when the company registered 7.4 trillion won in operating profits, Samsung Electronics said in its earnings guidance for the third quarter.

--IANS

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