Samsung AXES Galaxy Note 7 and offers everyone their money back in $17billion recall: Firm warns users to switch them off and seek a refund

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Samsung has axed its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, stopping production of the faulty device a day after it halted global sales of the product.

The South Korean tech giants said on Tuesday it made the final decision to stop production for the sake of consumer safety after a huge number of the phones overheated and spontaneously burst into flames.

'Taking our customer's safety as our highest priority, we have decided to halt sales and production of the Galaxy Note 7,' the company said. 

A spokesperson for Samsung confirmed to MailOnline that the smartphone has been 'permanently discontinued'.

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Samsung has axed the Galaxy Note 7, stopping production of the smartphone, pictured

Customers whose devices spontaneously set on fire have shared their pictures since the first incidents were reported in August 

Samsung was struggling to regain consumer trust after a first round of recalls. 

The company stopped selling the device after finding that even the supposedly safer replacements it was providing for recalled Note 7 phones were catching fire. 

The firm says customers with original Note 7 devices or replacements they obtained after the recall should turn off the power and seek a refund or exchange them for different phones.

The axing of the Note 7 will translate into lost sales of up to 19 million phones, or nearly $17 billion (£14 billion), according to analysts at Credit Suisse.  

After the initial recall it was expected Samsung would lose $5 billion (£4 billion) in expected sales and recall costs based on the assumption that the firm would resume global Note 7 sales.

The Korean technology giant's share price tumbled 7 per cent in trading in Seoul on Tuesday, wiping billions of dollars off its value.

The announcement follows several new incidents of overheating last week.

South Korean media reported Monday that Samsung's factories stopped making the fire-prone phones but Samsung insisted it was making production adjustments to improve inspections and quality control. 

Leading mobile network operators had already said they would stop distributing new Note 7 phones as replacements for the earlier recall.

The scale of the problem was first revealed when Samsung announced on September 2 a global recall of 2.5 million Note 7s in 10 markets, including the United States, due to faulty batteries causing some of the phones to catch fire. In the U.S. the handset costs $834-$880.

The smartphone was due to relaunch in the UK, costing £740 ($907), at the end of October after sales were delayed amid concerns that the mobiles were at risk of overheating or catching fire.

The company said 45,000 Note 7s had been sold in Europe through the pre-order campaign - the majority in the UK - and more than 75 per cent had since been replaced with either a Note 7 or another Samsung handset. 

China's quality watchdog said on Tuesday Samsung's local unit will recall all 190,984 Galaxy Note 7 phones that it has sold in the mainland. 

The first report of a Note 7 explosion surfaced on August 24 in South Korea and since then there have been more than 100 reports of battery failures or fires in the U.S. alone. 

U.S. consumer safety officials said they're investigating five incidents of fire or overheating since the company announced a recall last month.

Some analysts have claimed Samsung has 'dragged its heels' over its announcement to halt sales and production.

GIRL, 13, SUFFERS MINOR BURN AS NOTE 7 REPLACEMENT MELTS IN HER HAND  

A Minnesota father says his daughter suffered a minor burn to her thumb when her replacement Samsung smartphone melted in her hand last week.

Andrew Zuis of Farmington, Minn., said his daughter, Abby, was holding the Galaxy Note 7 in her left hand Friday when it melted. Zuis saidthat the family had acquired the new phone on the day the replacement phones were released. There had been no problem with the original phone, he said.

'It's very fortunate Abby was not injured and was holding the phone,' Zuis said. 'If it was in her pocket, I think it would have been a whole different situation. I'm just very disappointed in Samsung and their product.'

Andrew Zuis, of Farmington, Minn., shows the replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone belonging to his 13-year-old daughter Abby, that melted in her hand on Friday

'She's done with Note 7s right now,' Zuis said of his daughter. Reports of more replacement phones catching fire are trickling in

Zuis provided KSTP-TV with receipts showing that the family bought a Galaxy Note 7 in August and then exchanged it Sept. 21 after Samsung announced the recall.

'She's done with Note 7s right now,' Zuis said of his daughter.

A Samsung representative told KSTP that an investigation is underway.

'We want to reassure our customers that we take every report seriously and we are engaged with the Zuis family to ensure we are doing everything we can for them and their daughter,' the representative said in a statement. 

Last week, authorities had to evacuate a Southwest Airlines flight when a replacement phone began emitting smoke.

Many airlines across the world are now either refusing to allow passengers on the plane with the devices or they are demanding that they are turned off before boarding. 

Meanwhile, Kentucky man Michael Klering told local media he was 'scared to death' when he woke up to find his bedroom full of smoke due to his replacement phone catching fire.

'The whole room just covered in smoke, smells awful. I look over and my phone is on fire,' Mr Klering said.

He claimed he had only had his replacement handset for a little more than a week before it caught fire.

A Galaxy Note 7 burning at a Burger King in South Korea was caught on video by someone eating at the fast food restaurant

'The phone is supposed to be the replacement, so you would have thought it would be safe. It wasn't plugged in. It wasn't anything, it was just sitting there,' Mr Klering said.

'We are working with relevant regulatory bodies to investigate the recently reported cases involving the Galaxy Note7,' Samsung said.

'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.' 

Earlier on Monday the firm said it had temporarily halted production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones.

An unnamed official at a Samsung supplier on Monday reported that the tech giant took the unprecedented measure for consumer safety. 

A Southwest Airlines plane was evacuated on Wednesday after smoke coming from an overheated Samsung device filled the cabin. A view of the plane is shown above

A picture taken by the customer inside the plane shows the phone's burned screen  

Last month, a Jeep burst into flames in Florida after the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 set alight when it was put on charge

AT&T Inc, the second largest U.S. mobile network, said on Sunday that it will stop exchanging new Note 7 smartphones due to reports of fires from replacement devices that Samsung has said used safe batteries.

T-Mobile US Inc said it was also temporarily halting sales of new Note 7s as well as exchanges while Samsung investigated 'multiple reports of issues' with its flagship device.

T-Mobile offered customers who brought in their Note 7s a $25 credit on their phone bill. 

Getting a refund on the phone has proved tricky for some in the UK, such as early pre-order customer Michael Rock from Wakefield.

The father-of-two got his Note 7 at the end of August but, when the global recall began in September, postal service Royal Mail reportedly refused to let him post it back to Samsung. 

'Royal Mail won't let me send the Note 7. What do I do!! Samsung won't refund until they get it back,' he wrote on Twitter. 

Samsung earlier said it was investigating reports of 'heat damage issues' and would share its findings when the investigation is complete.

'If we determine a product safety issue exists, Samsung will take immediate steps approved by the CPSC (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission) to resolve the situation,' Samsung told said in a statement.

Has your Note 7 set fire? Email: sarah.dean@mailonline.co.uk