AT&T is considering stopping all sales and replacements of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 due to ongoing safety issues, reports Bloomberg. Citing a person "familiar with the situation," Bloomberg says AT&T may halt sales as soon as today.
AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint have all started allowing customers to exchange their Galaxy Note 7 devices for different smartphones such as the iPhone 7, but AT&T's full sales ban would go one step further, seeing the company cease offering "safe" replacement devices altogether.
Samsung first issued a recall of the Galaxy Note 7 in early September following dozens of reports of overheating, leading to batteries that explode and catch on fire. Many people who purchased a Galaxy Note 7 have reported injuries and property damage.
While Samsung has replaced more than one million Galaxy Note 7 devices with versions that are said to have batteries that are "not vulnerable to overheating and catching fire," at least one report suggests the replacement devices are also prone to problems.
Earlier this week, a Southwest flight from Louisville to Baltimore was evacuated after a Galaxy Note 7 started smoking and caught fire, unusual because the device in question was a replacement smartphone that had been deemed safe by Samsung. Federal regulators are investigating the incident, which has reignited fears about Samsung devices.
According to rumors, Samsung rushed the Galaxy Note 7 into production in an effort to outshine Apple after hearing that the iPhone 7 would not feature major design changes. Suppliers were pushed to meet tighter deadlines for an earlier launch, which potentially led to critical oversights and has ended up costing Samsung millions in recall fees and replacements.
All customers who purchased a Galaxy Note 7 from one of the four major carriers can replace it with a different device, including those who have already exchanged their faulty Note 7 smartphones for versions that Samsung has declared safe.
