Samsung to release final update to Galaxy Note 7
SAN FRANCISCO — It's the end of the line for the beleaguered Galaxy Note 7.
Samsung Electronics' next, and final, update to the recalled smartphone will render it inoperable when it is released Dec. 19. The South Korean electronics giant on Friday said the update will "prevent U.S. Galaxy Note 7 devices from charging and will eliminate their ability to work as mobile devices.”
The updated phone will be available through all major carriers for 30 days, Samsung said in a statement.
Since the Note 7 was recalled in September and again in October after multiple reports of it catching on fire, Samsung has frantically tried to get millions of Note 7 customers to return their smartphones. To date, about 93% have in the U.S., leaving more than 100,000 still unaccounted for.
Under a refund and exchange program, Note 7 owners can return their phones or exchange them for other Samsung devices.
The unceremonious end to the Note 7 was Samsung's only sensible option, analysts said, as it readies new devices to re-establish itself as the most-popular smartphone vendor in the world.
Samsung is working on bendable and two-screen models in 2017, according to a report in etnews, a Korean tech news website. Samsung had no comment on the report.
"They need to put Note 7 to rest to get ready for the next devices, S8 and Note 8," tech analyst Jack Gold says. "The best thing they can do is focus on the future. Consumers have short memories and still like Samsung. If the new devices are good, there should be no long-term negative effect."
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