Irish mobile operators have begun putting in place plans to deal with the fallout from the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 exploding battery controversy.
Samsung has scrapped its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, less than two months after its launch, dealing a huge blow to its reputation and outlook after failing to resolve safety concerns.
Eir said it had a small volume of Samsung Note 7 devices that were sold as part of a pre-order campaign, but when the issue first arose, it exchanged all devices that had been distributed and suspended sales of any new devices.
As a result it says the volume of Samsung Note 7s in circulation remained low and it is now contacting customers to offer them an alternative device of the same value, or a cheaper device plus a refund of the difference.
The company said it will also release anyone out of their contract if they choose.
It is understood that fewer than 100 Vodafone customers have the handset.
The company is now exchanging the Note 7 for an alternative device or if the customer has only ordered but not received the handset, the order will be cancelled.
Vodafone says if customers want to exchange their Note 7, they will propose an equivalent handset.
If customers are in a contract, the mobile operator will refund the difference between the Note 7 price and the new replacement device.
However, if a customer does not wish to exchange for a replacement handset, the firm will fully refund the cost of the device and roll back their contract.
Between 100 and 200 customers of Three Mobile are thought to have the device.
The company said it is making direct contact with each of them to arrange a refund or an alternative.
Samsung announced recall after reports of exploding batteries
Samsung announced the recall of 2.5 million Note 7s in early September following numerous reports of the phones catching fire and today it finally pulled the plug on the €800 device in what could be one of the costliest product safety failures in tech history.
The decision to scrap the Note 7 came after fresh reports of fires in replacement devices prompted new warnings from regulators, phone carriers and airlines.
"(We) have decided to halt production and sales of the Galaxy Note 7 in order to consider our consumers' safety first and foremost," the South Korean firm said in a filing to the Seoul stock exchange.
Samsung said earlier it asked all global carriers to stop sales of the Note 7 and the exchange of original devices for replacements, while it worked with regulators to investigate the problem.
The company is offering to exchange the device for other products or refund customers.
Samsung's decision to pull the Note 7 off the shelves not only raises fresh doubts about the firm's quality control but could result in huge financial and reputational costs.
Analysts say a permanent end to Note 7 sales could cost Samsung up to $17bn and tarnish its other phone products in the minds of consumers and carriers.
Investors wiped nearly $20 billion off Samsung Electronics' market value today as its shares closed down 8%, their biggest daily percentage decline since 2008.
The premium device, launched in August, was supposed to compete with Apple Inc's latest iPhone for supremacy in the smartphone market. Well received by critics, its first problem was a shortage as pre-orders overwhelmed supply.
But within days of the launch images of charred Note 7s began appearing on social media, in the first sign that something was seriously amiss with the gadget.
The South Korean firm did not comment on whether it had identified the cause of the fires in the replacement devices, although officials in Seoul said it was looking at several possibilities including the batteries.
"It is more difficult to analyse the cause of the accidents this time because of various patterns of the accidents," an official with the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, which met with Samsung and experts yesterday, told Reuters.
China's quality watchdog said Samsung would recall all 190,984 Note 7s sold in the mainland.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission said Samsung was making the right decision by halting sales and exchanges of the device.
"No one should have to be concerned their phone will endanger them, their family or their property," CPSC Chairman Elliott Kaye said in a statement.
The US Federal Aviation Administration and South Korea's transport ministry added their voices to concerns from the aviation industry, saying no Note 7s should be used or charged inside airplanes.
