Samsung halts sale of Galaxy Note 7 because of exploding batteries

Up to 2.5 million units to be replaced and UK launch postponed

Samsung has suspended sales of it's flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone which was released in Asia two weeks ago. It has offered a replacement to the estimated 2.5 million people who have already bought one of the handsets but has stopped short of issuing a full recall.

Rumours of a fire risk have been doing the rounds on social media for some time. Photos emerged on Baidu last month of a burned out Galaxy Note 7 which the owner in China claimed had exploded while being charged, and a video emerged on YouTube shortly afterwards showing another charred and partially melted phablet.

Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung's mobile business said that in tests 35 incidents have been reported in which the handset caught fire on charging, hence the decision to halt sales.

It will take at least two weeks to begin the process of replacing customers' devices, and in the meantime the planned promotional activities in the UK and elsewhere, where the Galaxy Note 7 was due to be launched today, have been pulled.

"Samsung is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take every incident report from our valued customers very seriously," the company said.

"For customers who already have Galaxy Note 7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks.

"We acknowledge the inconvenience this may cause in the market but this is to ensure that Samsung continues to deliver the highest quality products to our customers.

"We are working closely with our partners to ensure the replacement experience is as convenient and efficient as possible."

The timing couldn't be worse for Samsung. Rival Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 7 at an event on 7 September.