AT&T Considers Stopping All Samsung Note 7 Sales

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: ATT Inc. is considering stopping all sales of Samsung Electronics Co.'s flagship Galaxy Note 7 over concerns about the smartphone's safety, according to a person familiar with the situation. A final decision will likely come as soon as Friday, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. ATT spokesman Fletcher Cook declined to comment. Like many competitors, the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier is already offering alternative smartphones to people who return Note 7 devices. Samsung started replacing the Note 7 last month because of a flaw in its lithium battery that can lead to overheating and pose a burn hazard to customers. Airlines have banned customers from using the smartphones on flights, and the evacuation of a Southwest Airlines Co. plane earlier this week was blamed on smoke caused by a replacement device. ATT's move would be a further blow to Samsung. The wireless carrier is the third-biggest customer of the South Korean company, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Samsung is already facing a bill that analysts estimate stretching into the billions of dollars for the recall of 2.5 million Note 7 phones that it announced last month. A U.S.-based Samsung spokeswoman didn't immediately have a comment.

the question is..

[Anonymous Coward]

why haven't you greedy fucks quit selling them already?

Re:

[thegarbz]

why haven't you greedy fucks quit selling them already?

Because there's no formal recall and other than 1 odd case the was no reason to suspect the current batch of Note 7s in the shop to have any problem?

I'm sure you're happy to send me all your money since you consider just standard normal operating practice to = "greedy fucks" and you have something against that right?

Frist Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

You are all welcome to keep typing on your slow iPhones, while my note runs burning fast

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Considering how big a PITA it is to bring an unlocked device to the major carriers in the US - yes, yes it is.

They go out of their way to get you to buy your phones through them. One of the things Apple has been really successful at with the iPhone is taking over that process themselves, but even then, when you buy an iPhone direct from Apple you get one that's carrier-locked. Last I checked the only way to get an unlocked iPhone from Apple in the US is to buy one that's "for T-mobile" because T-mobile is s

Re:

[jon3k]

I never understood why having an unlocked phone in the US mattered. We have two networks worth a shit, AT&T (barely) and Verizon. Most devices don't have radios compatible with both networks. So what will having an unlocked phone get you? Moving from GSM AT&T to T-Mobile? No thanks.

Re:

[Whorelander]

Unlocked phones cost less in the long run than financing a device, you really own it, and it gives you a better selection of devices to choose from IMO.

What's with your comment on T-Mobile? If it's about the network, when I don't have coverage -- which is rare -- I'm on AT&Ts towers and that's included in the plan. I was on AT&T and moved over to T-Mobile and I couldn't be happier. I'm paying less for the "same" coverage.

And now I'm considering Ting, since they now use all of T-Mobile and AT

Re:

[Joe_Dragon]

so you like roaming at $15 a meg?

Re:

[jon3k]

What roaming? I travel all over the east half of the US, never had an issue with roaming.

Re:

[Joe_Dragon]

when you go out side of the usa and you can't use an local sim.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[known_coward_69]

at&t they will send an APN file to your phone. ting is your problem

Re:

[Lisandro]

Huh? How is it hard? You just buy an unlocked phone (Amazon has them by the truckload), go to your favorite carrier, buy a SIM and pop it in.

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[Karlt1]

Considering how big a PITA it is to bring an unlocked device to the major carriers in the US - yes, yes it is.

I just bought my son a cheap unlocked GSM phone, bought a t-mobile sim and called them and had them activate it to my plan. Years ago, I had a GSM iPhone 4 that was originally locked to AT&T. I went online, had AT&T unlock the phone and went into a T-mobile's store and they activated it.

They go out of their way to get you to buy your phones through them.

"How do they go out of their way? Of

Re:

[murdocj]

Sure made sense for me... I bought my phone thru US Cell and lowered my bill to $35/mo. Why wouldn't I do that?

Re:

[murdocj]

And by the way, it's a prepaid plan... so i could leave tomorrow if I want to. Not locked into anything.

Re:

[known_coward_69]

yes, because if there is no pay up front discount then you are stupid for paying upfront and not stretching the payments out over 24-30 months

Re:

[hcs_$reboot]

How many iPhones exploded during the same time?

Re:

[hcs_$reboot]

Well, at least a significant number exploded, and Samsung agreed there is a problem with their phone. No set-up on the horizon.

Re:

[GerryGilmore]

Can we please STOP saying "exploded"? A normal electronic failure - that releases the magic smoke upon which all computers really work - while it releases heat and smoke, is NOT an "explosion". (Really, folks - this is /. where we start with real terms with real meanings. Right? Right?)

Re:

[Maritz]

"explosion" gets more eyeballs and clicks, so "explosion" it is.

Re:

[mindwhip]

If you disregard the first release of phones with the acknowledged fault that everyone should replace after being told to do so... and being brutal its their own fault if they haven't by now given the suppliers all have the stock sitting waiting.

In the second release we have 1 case (possible, no actual proof/acknowledgement that it was a replacement phone or if the fault was the battery or something else, and the phone wasn't tampered with which it might have been given the suspicious timing of the fault oc

Re:

[DraconPern]

There is no recall in the EU because it is not even for sale in the EU until end of October.  It was suppose to be on sale on September 2, but they didn't because they announced the recall on the same day. 

Re:

[eionmac]

EU. News reports fix the fault as consumers in EU stop buying.

Re:

[Maritz]

Sorry what? You could mean any of about four different things with that.

Re:

[thegarbz]

a) that's a frigging large number
b) there was a documented problem with the devices
c) they were subject to a voluntary worldwide recall by the manufacturer.

But yes I can see how this looks like some grand US conspiracy to someone who has no clue.

iPhones also explode:

[Whorelander]

iPhone 7 exploded in transit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/apple... [reddit.com]

iPhone 6 exploded in user's pocket:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new... [telegraph.co.uk]

Re:

[thegarbz]

Apple has sold 232million iPhone 6 units and so far you've shown a link that 1 has exploded.
Samsung has sold 2million Note 7 and 60 have exploded.

At this point I would like to introduce you to the concept of the order of magnitude [wikipedia.org]. It will help for your understanding of why your comment is utterly stupid.

Hint for Samsung...

[emil]

Next time, use removable batteries.

As long as you are making design changes, include an sd-card slot, and keep that bootloader unlocked as if your market share and stock price depended on it.

(Which it does, as I'm not touching another one of your products while you lack these features.)

Re:

[Whorelander]

They brought back the SD-card slot with the 7 line of their phones. I will not buy a phone without one and I'm also with you on the removable battery -- which I've never had to change, but I always want that option.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Samsung believed the issue was isolated to a single battery supplier, so they recalled the phones to replace the batteries. Instead of taking back the entire phone, they could have just told customers to return the defective battery and give them a new one. Having a non-removable battery greatly complicated the recall process. Now the customers have to wait for replacement phones to be available, then bring it to the store and give up their old phone and then set up an entirely new one. It's more of a h

Re:

[zentigger]

Except that it doesn't appear to be the battery itself that is the problem so much as the controller, or a fundamental design problem with heat dissipation.

Re:

[jezwel]

Yep - airlines are spending 30+ seconds each and every flight talking about the Note 7 and how it cannot be charged or turned on during flight. That's a lot of bad publicity, repeated to hundreds of people each and every flight.

The phone needs to be removed from sale entirely.

Re:

[Angeret]

As long as that includes all products with a potentially dangerous lithium ion battery, I'm right behind you.

Re:

[Maritz]

I thought you were dead, Steve.