The decision to withdraw the product from the market confirmed Samsung's commitment to ensuring customer safety as top priority, the company said. Samsung also recommended smartphone users switch-off and stop using the device.
Accordingly, Samsung will recall the product and pay VND18.99 million (US$844) to each customer who purchased a Galaxy Note7 between October 18 and November 18.
Galaxy Note7 owners should bring their products and their identification card or passport to any Samsung guarantee centre nationwide or call the free hotline 1800 588 889 to have their money refunded.
In addition, Samsung is also offering a VND1.5 million voucher to each customer to buy new Samsung products. Customers can borrow another Samsung smartphone for temporary use if they have not yet bought another phone.
The dramatic warning came in the form of a written statement issued a little over a month after the world's largest smartphone producer announced a global recall of 2.5 million Note7s in 10 markets following reports that its lithium-ion battery exploded when charging.
Exports to fall
As one of Samsung's biggest production centres, Vietnam is expected to be affected by the massive recall as the country supplies around 35% of the producer's mobile phones around the world. Vietnam's export turnover will be directly affected by the recall.
Baodautu.vn cited figures from the General Statistics Office (GSO) showing that the country's export turnover in August surged by 5.9%, equivalent to US$896 million, while in September it was reduced by 6.8%, equivalent to US$1.1 billion . One of the reasons was due to the export of Samsung Galaxy Note7 models.
The GSO said the launch of the product in August had led to a hike in export turnover. In September, the halt of Samsung Galaxy Note7 devices affected the export turnover. Exports of mobile phones and accessories were reduced by US$506 million last month.
Former Minister of Planning and Investment, Professor Nguyen Mai, told the newspaper that the affect would be minimal as the Samsung Galaxy Note7 is only one of several products from the manufacturer. However, it was also slated as a key product.
The decrease in export turnover has contributed to making the year's target of 10% growth more difficult to achieve, especially as the country's growth rate in the first nine months was 6.7%.
Vietnam's export growth has been dependent on Samsung since its operations began in the country in 2009. Samsung contributes up to 20 % of the country's total export turnover. Last year, Samsung Vietnam exported a total of US$32.78 billion. The figure this year is expected to reach US$34.4 billion.
Mai said Samsung had no plan to cut jobs in Vietnam. He said the firm not only produced smartphones and tablets in Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh provinces but also refrigerators and washing machines in HCM City. Big firms such as Samsung would have solutions to regain customers' trust, he added.
