Updated: Samsung Officially Kills Galaxy Note 7, Gives It A Viking Funeral

Updated 10/11/2016 @ 8:11am

Samsung has announced that it is ending all production and sales of the Galaxy Note 7. The company issued the following statement: "Taking our customer’s safety as our highest priority, we have decided to halt sales and production of the Galaxy Note 7.” Our original piece continues below:

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 2
The lengthy [and explosive] Galaxy Note 7 saga is getting closer to what some feel might be its logical conclusion — the complete removal of all of these devices from the marketplace. Last night, we reported that AT&T and T-Mobile had suspended sales of all replacement Galaxy Note 7 smartphone following a rash of new fires. Since that time, Verizon and Sprint have both joined their counterparts.

Not long after, it was reported that Samsung was temporarily halting Galaxy Note 7 production to comply with safety regulators in China, South Korea and the United States. Now, Samsung has issued what amounts to another global recall for the Galaxy Note 7. Even though Samsung doesn’t call it a recall, the company is asking that ALL Galaxy Note 7 devices — original and replacements — be taken out of commission.

The company wrote the following in a blog post:

We are working with relevant regulatory bodies to investigate the recently reported cases involving the Galaxy Note7. Because consumers’ safety remains our top priority, Samsung will ask all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note7 while the investigation is taking place.

We remain committed to working diligently with appropriate regulatory authorities to take all necessary steps to resolve the situation. Consumers with either an original Galaxy Note7 or replacement Galaxy Note7 device should power down and stop using the device and take advantage of the remedies available.

At this point, one could surmise that this signals the end of the Galaxy Note 7 as we know it. There was some hope for the smartphone following the first recall and the swift reaction by Samsung. However, even those well-meaning actions by Samsung were met with condemnation, because the company didn’t go through official channels to get defective phones out of circulation in an orderly fashion.

Galaxy Note7 Front

Now that the replacement devices are also being recalled, there’s likely no chance that Samsung will pour resources into reworking the Galaxy Note 7 again to truly make it safe. The damage has already been done to both Samsung’s reputation and the reputation of its Galaxy devices. The only logical path now is to move forward, and we’re all eager to see where Samsung goes from here and how the company recovers.

After all, it's not how many times you fall, but how you get back up that matters. 

We're also highly interested in getting an inside look at where things went wrong at Samsung, on both the original design of the Galaxy Note 7 and unfortunately also its explosive replacement.

Brandon Hill

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

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