Samsung suspends production of recalled Note 7: report

SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics has suspended production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, a report said Monday, a month after a recall prompted by battery explosions and a day after two major overseas distributors halted replacements.

Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, declined to comment on the report by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, which was sourced to an unidentified official with an unnamed Samsung supplier.

The official told Yonhap the decision to temporarily halt production was taken in cooperation with consumer safety regulators from South Korea, the United States and China.

Samsung decided on September 2 to halt the sale of the Galaxy Note 7 and recall those sold after complaints that its lithium-ion battery exploded while charging.

With images of charred phones flooding social media, the unprecedented recall was a humiliation for a firm that prides itself as an icon of innovation and quality.

The recall process initially stumbled with some mixed messages, but seemed to be on track until last week when reports emerged of similar problems with some of the replacement phones.

On Sunday, US telecommunications firm AT&T and German rival T-Mobile said they would halt exchanges of recalled Samsung Galaxy Note 7s pending further investigations.

The announcement saw Samsung’s share price plunge by as much as four percent in early morning trade on Monday — even before the Yonhap report came out.

At midday, Samsung shares were trading at 1.65 million won — down 3.2 percent from Friday’s close.

AT&T said it would still offer customers the option to exchange Galaxy Note 7s for another Samsung smartphone or other device of their choice.

T-Mobile said it was halting sales of the smartphone, as well as the exchanges.

Samsung has so far declined to confirm any problem with its replacement phones.

The South Korean conglomerate’s handling of the Note 7 recall has placed a spotlight on management at a time when it is navigating a tricky generational power transfer within the founding Lee family.

Industry experts have criticised the Lee dynasty for controlling the vast group through a complex web of cross shareholdings, although they only directly own about five percent of total stocks.

Samsung on Friday issued a stronger-than-expected operating profit forecast for the third quarter despite the impact of the recall that, according to some analysts, could cost up to $2 billion.

source: interaksyon.com

US recalls over 500,000 hoverboards over battery fires

Ten companies are recalling about 501,000 hoverboards after numerous reports of the self-balancing scooters’ batteries catching fire, the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission said on Wednesday.

There have been at least 99 incidents of the two-wheeled devices’ lithium-ion battery packs overheating, sparking, smoking, catching fire or exploding, the commission said in a statement. The incidents include an unspecified number of burns and property damage.

“We’ve all seen pictures of homes destroyed and families that made it out just in time,” Commission Chairman Elliot Kaye told a news conference.

Consumers were urged to stop using the recalled hoverboards and contact the companies named in the recall for a refund, repair or replacement.

The recall covers hoverboard models from eight importers: Digital Gadgets LLC, Monroe, New Jersey; Hoverboard LLC, Scottsdale, Arizona; Hype Wireless, Edison, New Jersey; Keenford Ltd, Hong Kong; PTX Performance Products USA, Irvine, California; Razor USA LLC, Cerritos, California; Yuka Clothing, of Miami; and Swagway LLC, of South Bend, Indiana.

The recall also affects models from two retailers – Boscov’s of Reading, Pennsylvania, and Overstock.com Inc, of Salt Lake City, Utah.

The models were sold from June 2015 through May for between $350 and $900, the commission statement said. The scooters and batteries were made in China.

The commission also said that China-based e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has acted on its own to require certification from testing agencies for hoverboards listed by third parties on its AliExpress.com and Alibaba.com online sites.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has recommended that the self-balancing scooters be carried only in cabin baggage, rather than in the hold, but it remains up to each airline to decide their exact policy.

source: interaksyon.com

Chrysler recalls newer Jeeps; stands firm on older models

NEW YORK — Two days after rejecting a push to recall old model Jeeps over a potential fire hazard, Chrysler on Thursday issued a recall for 630,000 newer models for power steering and airbag problems.

Chrysler, a unit of Italy’s Fiat, will call back for repairs 221,000 2012-2013 3.6 liter Jeep Wranglers with automatic transmissions to fix a problem with the power steering system that can damage the transmission cooler line and cause a transmission fluid leak.

Most of the cars are in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

In addition, the automaker said it will recall 409,000 2010-2012 Jeep Compasses and Patriots, three-quarters of them in the United States and the rest in other countries, because of a software problem that could delay or prevent the deployment of a side curtain airbag in a crash, leaving occupants of the car at higher risk of injury.

Chrysler told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration it will repair the problems free of charge.

The move came after Chrysler on Tuesday rejected the NHTSA’s recommendation that it recall 2.7 million Jeep sport utility vehicles built in the 1990s and 2000s to fix a risk of engine fires that have left dozens dead.

But “the company does not agree with NHTSA’s conclusions and does not intend to recall the vehicles cited in the investigation. The subject vehicles are safe and are not defective,” Chrysler said in a statement.

The rare move to publicly reject a recall recommended by the agency did not put an end to the issue.

The NHTSA said in a statement late Tuesday that it still hopes Chrysler will reconsider “and take action to protect its customers and the driving public.”

“Our data shows that these vehicles may contain a defect that presents an unreasonable risk to safety, which is why we took the next step of writing Chrysler,” it said.

Chrysler said Thursday that it was still preparing its formal response to the NHTSA, which still has the option of ordering the recall.

source: interaksyon.com

Hyundai, Kia recall 1.9M units in US

WASHINGTON — South Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia are recalling nearly 1.9 million vehicles in the United States to fix brake lights and airbags, the US government said Wednesday.

Hyundai recalled certain model-year 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra vehicles for airbag problems. The brake light recall affects Kia vehicles in model years between 2007 and 2011, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea’s largest automaker, notified the NHTSA that a support bracket may become displaced when a side airbag deploys, potentially causing a laceration injury.

Hyundai’s affiliate, Kia Motors Corporation, is recalling certain model year 2007-2010 Rondo and Sportage, model year 2007-2011 Sorento, model year 2007 Sedona, model year 2010-2011 Soul, and model year 2011 Optima vehicles.

A faulty stop light switch may prevent the brake lights from illuminating when the brake pedal is depressed or may prevent deactivation of the cruise control by depressing the brake pedal, increasing the risk of a crash.

In addition, Kia reported, the problem may affect the push-button start feature and affect the operation of the brake-transmission shift interlock feature preventing the shifter from being moved out of the park position.

Repairs of the affected vehicles will be free of charge, the companies said.

Hyundai, together with its smaller affiliate Kia, is the world’s fifth-largest automaker.

source: interaksyon.com

Toyota to recall 2.77 million cars over steering glitch

TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp will recall about 2.77 million vehicles worldwide, including the Prius hybrid car, due to problems with the steering mechanism and the hybrid system water pump.

Toyota will recall 13 models sold in Japan between August 2000 and January 2012, it said in a filing with Japan’s transport ministry. Some 1.5 million of the recalls are of cars sold in Japan.

The announcement comes a month after Toyota recalled more than 7.4 million vehicles worldwide for faulty power window switches that are a potential fire hazard, the biggest single recall since Ford pulled 8 million vehicles off the road in 1996.

source: interaksyon.com

Japan McDonald's recalls flawed giveaway glasses

TOKYO — McDonald's in Japan said Wednesday it was recalling giveaway glass tumblers after 78 people reported being injured by the Olympic-themed freebies.

The fast food giant said it had received 130 complaints after handing out the tumblers to purchasers of "Value Sets," which included fries and a soft drink, during their "Olympic Cheer Coke Glass Campaign" in June and July.



McDonald's said they gave away six million tumblers in Japan, some of which had "glass protrusions" on their edges or insides because of a manufacturing error.

"We received 130 complaints from our customers by August 7, of which 78 customers said they suffered cuts, although injuries were not serious enough to warrant their going to hospital," company spokesman Kazuyuki Hagiwara told AFP.

He said flawed metallic molds used by the producer of the glasses were to blame.

The company said customers who return their glasses between now and the end of October will be given replacements. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

China Dairy Recalls Hundreds of Cartons of Tainted Milk

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese dairy company has recalled hundreds of cartons of milk after a mechanical error tainted the batch with alkaline water, the latest blow to China's scandal-plagued dairy industry.

The recall comes just weeks after China's top-selling dairy firm, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co, pulled six months' worth of infant formula from shelves due to mercury contamination.

China's milk industry is struggling to restore consumer confidence after a series of scandals, the worst of which was in 2008 when milk and infant formula laced with the industrial chemical melamine killed at least six children and made nearly 300,000 ill.

In the latest incident, the Bright Dairy & Food Co., called Guangming in Chinese, posted a recall notice on its website after customers complained online of bad smelling and discolored liquid in the company's 950 ml cartons (about a quarter gallon) of Ubest milk, state media reported on Thursday.

A seconds-long mechanical delay during routine maintenance at one of its Shanghai factories caused a "small amount" of alkaline cleaning solution to be flushed into 300 cartons of milk produced on Monday, the company's notice said.

"We deeply apologize for any impact this has had on our customers. From today on, we will strictly strengthen relevant management procedures," it said, thanking media and customers for their "supervision".

Bright Dairy said it would provide door-to-door apologies to customers who bought the bad milk and carry out a strict factory inspection.

The Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision said it was investigating the case.

China has struggled to rein in health violations in the unruly and vast food sector despite harsh punishments and repeated vows to deal with the problem.

The country is notorious for its food safety woes, with frequent news reports of fake cooking oil, tainted milk and even watermelons that explode from absorbing too much fertilizer.

source: nytimes.com