Samsung suspends Note 7 production in the wake of more fires
Samsung Electronics has suspended production of the Galaxy Note 7 following mounting reports in the US of exchanged phones, previously deemed safe by the firm, catching fire, sources familiar with the matter told ZDNet.
The South Korean tech giant's handset factory in Vietnam, which makes the bulk of Note 7s for global shipment, has halted production and shipment of the handset, the sources said.
When production will resume is yet not known, they said, and is a result of more incidents of the phones catching in the fire in US and China. Samsung is to commence further investigations of its own as well as with authorities in South Korea and the US, they added.
On Saturday, it was revealed that a Kentucky man suffered from smoke inhalation when his exchanged Note 7 caught fire during the night.
Samsung allegedly knew about the incident before a Southwest plane was evacuated last week when a passenger's exchanged phone caught fire.
The company at the time said it was looking into the matter and that any safety issue will be addressed swiftly.
Both incidents involved phones that were given to customers after its global recall following battery explosions, and were deemed safe by the firm.
Update 2:59am US EST October 10, 2016: Samsung confirmed the suspension on Monday in a statement: "We are temporarily adjusting the Galaxy Note 7 production schedule in order to take further steps to ensure quality and safety matters."