[Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.]
Samsung pledged a global recall on its combustible Galaxy Note 7 in September last year but failed to recall every defective device. The tech giant estimates about 100,000 people still use Note 7 worldwide, refusing to respond to a recall order.
Now Samsung is taking compulsory measures after issuing an ultimatum. According to IT specialist media ETNEWS, the world's largest smartphone maker plans to considerably limit the capacity of all the remaining Note 7 batteries.
ETNEWS quoted an insider from a major mobile carrier as saying that Samsung would lower the battery capacity of unrecalled Note 7s down to 15 percent using OTA (over the air programming), a forced remote program supported by mobile carrier networks, in South Korea this week.
Samsung has taken similar steps globally since September last year, lowering the capacity of batteries down to 60 percent. In some areas, the Note7s were wirelessly configured unusable.
However, some Note 7 users at home still refuse to return the phones due to vexatious rules which require users to visit designated vendors or Samsung service centers during working hours. Some users just love it too much because they cannot find a perfect replacement.
Experts speculate that Note 7 users will eventually have to visit recall centers because their smartphones will only last a few hours.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
