The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications announced on Tuesday that shops and mobile phone distributors nationwide are to stop importing and distributing the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.
The ministry also instructed retailers to recall any Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones they had sold previously.
An assistant at LTH Samsung, Mrs Sakaorat Sukudom, told Vientiane Times on Tuesday that sales of the phone had not been discontinued at the shop on Dongpalan Road, despite reports in other countries of the phone’s batteries catching fire.
Mrs Dakaorat would not reveal how many of the Galaxy Note 7s had been sold in Laos but said that no problems had been reported.
We will not refund customers’ money if they return a phone but we will consider updating their device, she said.
With the latest model of this mobile expected in shops soon, LTH anticipates that it will start exchanging new upgrades of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 for people who bought these devices, possibly as early as next month.
Vice President of Lao Airlines Mr. Sengpraseuth Mathouchanh said the airline has prohibited the use of the phone on all flights after its batteries were found to have problems.
Based on recent reports in Thailand’s The Nation , THAI Airways International and Singapore Airlines have joined other airlines in banning the in-flight use of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 phones following reports of exploding batteries in some units.
Thailand’s national carrier has asked for cooperation from passengers who use this particular phone model – asking that they don’t open or charge the device while boarding. Passengers were also required not to put the phone in their checked-in baggage.
If the phone is broken, unusually hot, producing smoke or missing during the flight passengers should report it to the cabin crew.
Three Australian airlines have banned passengers from using or charging Galaxy Note 7 smartphones during flights and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said last week that travellers should not use or charge the phones while in the air, or stow them in checked luggage.
According to AP, Samsung’s Note 7s are being pulled from shelves in 10 countries, including South Korea and the United States, just two weeks after the product’s launch. Customers who have already bought Note 7s will be able to swap them for new smartphones in about two weeks.
The company said it has not found a way to tell exactly which phones may endanger users out of the 2.5 million Note 7s already sold globally. It is estimated that about 1 in 42,000 units may have a faulty battery.
Source: Vientiane Times
