[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics has decided to delay the Europe launch of its latest smartphone Galaxy Note 7 amid growing concerns about exploding batteries.

The Korean tech giant had planned to launch the new Note phone in European countries such as the UK and France on Sept. 2. But the plan has been suspended as the company is considering recalling all the phones sold globally after a series of explosion reports possibly due to faulty batteries.

Samsung had pinned high hopes on the Europe launch that comes after a yearlong hiatus. Last year, the company skipped Europe for the predecessor Note 5 launch to focus on key markets for bigger-screen phones such as the US and Asia. 




With a detailed recall plan expected to be announced soon, the company has stopped the phone’s shipments to Korean telecom carriers since early this week. The shipments have also been suspended in other markets such as the US and Australia.

Samsung launched the phone in China on Sept. 1 as planned, saying the phones being sold there use different batteries from those sold in Korea and some overseas markets.

In Korea alone, some 400,000 preorders have been made since the phone’s launch on Aug. 19. Industry watchers estimated about 1 million units have been sold globally.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)