Samsung Electronic KRW5000 (OTCMKTS:SSNLF) has started replacing Galaxy Note 7 smartphones.
The replacement Galaxy Note 7 devices made their way to the United States Tuesday and are available to customers today. The company has sent out 500,000 of the smartphones, which is enough to cover about half of the devices affected by the battery recall.
Samsung said that stores should have the remaining 500,000 Galaxy Note 7 smartphone replacements by the end of the month. The company also noted that 25% of Galaxy Note 7 owners have exchanged their devices and that the majority didn’t choose a refund.
Samsung is also releasing an update for the Galaxy Note 7 that will urge owners to exchange it whenever it is turned on or plugged in for charging. Those that do replace their smartphones with the new version will notice that it displays a green battery symbol. This was done to make it easier for customers to determine if they had a new version of the smartphone, reports Cnet.
There’s also a Galaxy Note 7 recall page that owners can use to identify if their device needs to be exchanged. Samsung+ can also be used to automatically check if the device needs replaced. Select carriers are also offering a $25 gift card if users switch to a new Note 7 instead of taking the refund.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall was announced on Sept. 2. Sales were stopped at this time and the company confirmed that the problem had to do with a battery cell issue. The recall likely isn’t cheap for the company as retailers were selling the smartphone for $850.
