Muscat: Sales of Samsung Note7 handsets will be stopped in the country, according to a top official at SARCO, the official dealer of Samsung phones in Oman.
“We are in the process of stopping the sales of Note7 in the country; it is primarily to ensure safety, as that is our priority,” the official said.
Samsung has asked all global partners to stop sales and exchanges of Galaxy Note7 while further investigation takes place, a statement posted on Samsung’s official website on Monday said.
“We are working with the relevant regulatory bodies to investigate the recently reported cases involving the Galaxy Note7. Because consumers’ safety remains our top priority, Samsung will ask all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note7 while an investigation takes place.”
“We remain committed to working diligently with the appropriate regulatory authorities to take all necessary steps to resolve the situation.
“Consumers with either an original Galaxy Note7 or replacement Galaxy Note7 device should power down and stop using the device and take advantage of the remedies available,” Samsung said.
The announcement came after Samsung Electronics replaced the Note7 phones with new and ‘safer’ handsets through an exchange offer, which was announced by Samsung in late September this year. US carriers AT&T and T Mobile had earlier halted the sales of the Note7 for safety issues, after reports of fire incidents in replacement devices added to the electronic giant’s recall crisis.
The Note7 issue has only heightened Samsung’s troubles from six years ago, when Apple filed a lawsuit against the tech giant for infringing their design patent. The case is heading to the US Supreme Court this week.
In early September this year, Samsung had announced the recall of 2.5 million Note 7s after several incidents of the phones catching fire were reported.
In Oman, sales of the Note7 were already on the decline over safety concerns, but the phone has almost stopped selling following the recent reports, which seemed to have upset users.
“We are not selling the Note7 phones at all; we have no stock of the phones now. The sales were already declining because of rumours over the fire catching incidents and explosion of the batteries,” said a mobile phone owner in Ruwi.
A Note7 user in the country has expressed her concern, “I will probably shut my phone, there is no security and I don’t know if it’s safe for me to use. They should perhaps refund the money.”