SEOUL, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Samsung announced a halt to production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone Tuesday, and issued an alert to customers to turn their phones off immediately.
It is a $10 billion problem for the prominent South Korean electronics company. After the Galaxy Note 7 went on sale in August, reports of cellphones spontaneously catching fire prompted corporate apologies and a recall of the product and replacement of 2.5 million batteries. The battery manufacturer was changed but several customers reported burning cellphones despite the switch; a burning smartphone filled a passenger plane with smoke and delayed a flight, and one customer reported his phone ignited although it was not plugged in.