Samsung halts sales of Galaxy Note 7 amid phone fire and exploding battery reports
Video report by ITV News Correspondent Sejal Karia
Samsung is to halt sales of its new Galaxy Note 7 amid reports that some of the smartphones are catching fire due exploding batteries.
The tech giant added that it will prepare replacement devices for phones already sold.
The decision comes after reports in South Korea that some consumers claimed batteries in the jumbo smartphone exploded during charging.
Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung's mobile business said on Friday that customers who had already bought Note 7s will be able to swap them for new smartphones, regardless of the purchasing date.
Mr Koh would not comment on which manufacturer's batteries were faulty and would not offer an estimate of the replacement cost of the phones, although he admitted it was a large amount.
Samsung said it has sold more than 2.5 million Note 7 smartphones since the product's launch.