Samsung halts production of troubled Galaxy Note 7

The fallout from Samsung’s dangerously faulty Galaxy Note 7 smartphone continues as the company has officially stopped manufacturing the device for the time being.

According to Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, which quotes an anonymous Samsung official, the temporary pause is in cooperation with safety regulators in Korea, China and the US.

"This measure includes a Samsung plant in Vietnam that is responsible for global shipments [of the Galaxy Note 7]," the official told Yonhap.

The news comes after a fraught few weeks for one of the world’s biggest technology companies, following its global recall of the device in September, after battery malfunctions that in some cases caused the device to combust.

More recent damaging effects to the brand include AT&T and T-Mobile in the US announcing that they would stop selling the phone, despite Samsung’s exchange programme allowing customers to swap their Galaxy Note 7’s for allegedly new, safe models.

However, there soon followed the troubling report of a Southwest airplane in the US being evacuated after a passenger’s replacement Galaxy Note 7 caught fire. Two further similar cases in the US have also been reported. Samsung said it is investigating the incidents.