Samsung says ‘turn off’ your Galaxy Note 7 smartphones immediately

After failing with the first line of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, Samsung dished out a “safe” replacement which has also hit the rocks and literally gone up in flames.

The tech conglomerate has urged users of the Galaxy Note 7 to “turn off” their phones and stop continued usage.

At this point, the company says sales of the phone will be stopped.

In September, when the batteries of the first batch of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones went ablaze, users uploaded photos of their burnt phones on the internet.

Samsung was then forced to recall about 2.5 million devices.

A few weeks later, the company assured users that the replacement phones were safe for use until negative reports started to filter in again.

“Because consumers’ safety remains our top priority, Samsung will ask all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7 while the investigation is taking place,” the company has now said.

“Consumers with either an original Galaxy Note 7 or replacement Galaxy Note 7 device should power down and stop using the device and take advantage of the remedies available,” it added.

The present turn of events couldn’t have come at a worse time for Samsung as competition in the $400bn phone market is at an all-time high.

Andrew Milroy, a technology analyst at Frost & Sullivan told the BBC that: “Samsung had been making a comeback against its rivals. This catastrophic product fault will seriously damage its competitive position in the smartphone market.”

A Southwest Airlines flight in the US was recently evacuated after a passenger’s Samsung phone began emitting smoke.

Flight 994 leaving Louisville, Kentucky was evacuated on the runway prior to takeoff.

The heat damage from the explosion was so severe that a fire official could not independently verify the model of the phone.