Samsung axes Galaxy Note 7

NEW YORK (AA) – Samsung announced Tuesday it is discontinuing its flagship smartphone model Galaxy Note 7 after a botched effort to address a problem of fiery batteries that caused headaches for customers and tarnished the company’s reputation.

"Taking our customer’s safety as our highest priority, we have decided to halt sales and production of the Galaxy Note 7," Samsung said in a statement.

Users will be able to get a full refund, along with a $25 gift card in select stores in the U.S.

The announcement, which sent Samsung shares tumbling more than 8 percent, comes a day after the world's largest phone manufacturer said it was ending sales of the device and adjusting production volume.

The Note line, known as the original phablet -- a hybrid of telephone and tablet -- has been very successful since its 2011 launch and has helped the company cement its global brand. There are fears, however, that the future of the entire line may have been jeopardized by the fate of its latest model.

Reports of defective units catching fire have continued to emerge since a Southwest Airlines flight was evacuated last week because of a smoking Note 7.

That phone was a replacement unit after Samsung issued a recall for 2.5 million Note 7 phones in late September, just weeks after its launch. But even that costly intervention failed to resolve the problem.

Kentucky resident Michael Klering told local reporters last week he was considering legal action against Samsung after a replacement Note 7 caused him to be diagnosed with acute bronchitis when it caught fire in his bedroom, emitted plumes of smoke and awakened him and his wife at 4 a.m. with hissing sounds.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission urged Note 7 owners more than a month ago “to power them down and stop charging or using the device”.

The demise of the Note 7 coincides with the launch of Google's Pixel phone, which the search engine giant is positioning as a flagship model in the Android universe.