Samsung Stops Making the Galaxy Note7 Smartphone

Samsung says it will no longer make the Galaxy Note7, its troubled flagship smartphone, after the company for the second time had to tell consumers to quit using their devices because of ongoing fire hazards.

The South Korean company confirmed the decision Tuesday morning. "For the benefit of consumers' safety, we stopped sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note7 and have consequently decided to stop production," a spokesperson said.

On late Monday afternoon Samsung had issued a statement saying customers should return their phones because of the safety issue. It also told retailers to stop selling the smartphone.

By then, the major carriers had already acted. One by one, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon announced over recent days that they would no longer supply replacement Note7 phones, and offered consumers the opportunity to exchange the phones for different models.

On Monday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said it was investigating reports of the “phone overheating and burning in multiple states.” It urged consumers to "power down and stop using all Galaxy Note7s.”

Consumer Reports also urged consumers to stop using their Note7 phones.

Samsung's problems with the Note7 began late this summer when some overheated and caught fire. Samsung stopped selling the phone on Sept. 2, a few weeks after its Aug. 19 introduction. An official recall didn't start until Sept. 15.

Soon after the company and retailers started issuing replacement phones, reports surfaced of more incidents. On Oct. 5, a replacement Note7 on a Southwest Airlines flight reportedly started smoking, forcing officials to evacuate the plane.

The Verge reports that five other incidents have occurred, including one when a man in Kentucky awoke to find his bedroom filled with smoke and his replacement Note7 on fire. The website said another caught fire in the hands of a 13-year-old girl.

The Note7 problems are just one of three issues Samsung has wrestled with recently.

The company admitted in late September that some of its top-loader washing machines "pose a risk of personal injury or property damage." Some owners have reported that the machines exploded.

And Consumer Reports in July found that the Samsung Galaxy S7 Active failed a water-resistance test.

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