Samsung shares slide as electronics giant halts Galaxy Note 7 sales on exploding battery concerns
Shares in Samsung were down 6.7 per cent this morning after the South Korean electronics giant halted sales of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone and urged customers to switch off their devices.
The company has asked all global carriers to stop selling the Note 7 devices and halt exchanges of the original device for replacements, while it works with regulators to investigate reports of fires and exploding batteries.
Yesterday, several US and Australian carriers suspended sales or exchanges of Note 7 phones.
Read more: Samsung must now x-ray batteries for its Note 7 phone in South Korea
Several airlines had already stopped allowing the devices on board, but aviation authorities issued further crackdowns on allowing Note 7s on flights after smoke from a replacement forced the evacuation of a passenger plane in the US last week.
Samsung issued its first recall over a month ago in early September. At the time, the new smartphone had only been on sale for a few weeks and was available in 10 countries.
Read more: US safety body launches formal recall of exploding Samsung smartphones
The Note 7 was lauded as being even more advanced than the most recently available iPhones, featuring eye-scanning technology that moved a step beyond Apple's use of biometrics.
It is also waterproof to depths of five feet, has a curved screen and is compatible with a new VR headset.