A man holds his replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone at a telecommunications shop in Seoul
In the U.S., the company says 250,000 of the smartphones had been handed in as of Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Samsung said that in the U.S., about 250,000 Galaxy Note 7s had been turned in as of Tuesday.
The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards on Thursday told Samsung, which plans to restart sales of the phone next week, and its battery suppliers to perform X-ray scans on Galaxy Note 7 batteries.
Samsung said Thursday that it would extend the refund period in South Korea, which originally expired this past Monday, until next Friday. The company also confirmed that consumers seeking an exchange rather than a refund could choose to swap for either another Galaxy Note 7 or a different Samsung smartphone.
The number of refund seekers as of the original Monday deadline was “very low,” the company said.
Samsung also said Thursday that it was discussing with domestic carriers a plan by which it would provide affected customers with a 30,000 won ($27) credit on their telecommunications bills.
The back-and-forth over the terms of the recall in South Korea follows the confused rollout of the company’s Galaxy Note 7 exchange program in the U.S., one of its biggest smartphone markets. There, Samsung didn’t notify the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission before the company’s Sept. 2 announcement of a global recall of 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7s.
Last week, nearly two weeks after that announcement, the CPSC said Samsung would recall one million of the phones in the U.S. As in South Korea, customers can choose between another Galaxy Note 7, a different Samsung smartphone or a refund.
The number of phones turned in as of Tuesday suggests Samsung is on track to meet consumer demand; it had said earlier about 500,000 devices would be available Wednesday, the first day of its U.S. exchange program. Owners had been urged to turn in their potentially dangerous phones immediately, even before replacements were available.
SAMSUNG’S GLOBAL RECALL
The world’s biggest smartphone maker is recalling 2.5 million of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones world-wide and offering exchanges to consumers.
Start dates of exchange program:
Canada: Sept. 12
Singapore: Sept. 17
South Korea: Sept. 19
U.S. and Australia: Sept. 21
Taiwan: Sept. 23
United Arab Emirates: Sept. 25
Mexico: Sept. 30
New Zealand: Up to four weeks from Sept. 5
Source: Samsung
The disjointed recall might add to the damage done to Samsung’s reputation by the defective smartphones. Released to fanfare last month, the Galaxy Note 7, priced at more than $800, suffered from a battery flaw that in some cases caused the phones to overheat and explode.
In Singapore, where Samsung started its exchange program last week, close to 80% of Galaxy Note 7 customers had registered for an exchange, the company said Thursday. The program there doesn’t include the choice of a refund or a swap for a different phone. In Taiwan, where the exchange program will begin Friday, about two-thirds of the company’s customers had signed up, Samsung said.
To encourage owners to turn in their affected Galaxy Note 7s for new ones, Samsung said that in some markets it would release an automatic update for the old smartphones that would limit the maximum battery charge to 60%.
As the company has pushed ahead with its recall, Samsung shares have bounced back. The stock ended Thursday up 1.6%, marking the fourth straight day of gains and bringing its rebound to 10% from its postcrisis low. Samsung shares are up about 36% over the past year, and trading just 4% below their record.
—Eun-Young Jeong contributed to this article.
Write to Jonathan Cheng
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