Half a million replacement Galaxy Note 7 cell phones are arriving in stores around the United States and will be available for exchange Wednesday, the company has announced.
That represents roughly half the phones recalled due to a fire hazard that were sold in the U.S. Two-and-a-half million of the phones were recalled worldwide.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued the recall last week, following a voluntary recall from Samsung. The department's chairman urged consumers to replace the phones — labeled a flight hazard by the FAA — as soon as possible due to the "serious fire hazard" presented by the product.
Dozens of people in the U.S. reported their batteries overheating, and 26 reported burns, according to the commission's website.
Consumers can either replace the phone or get a refund, and Samsung also released a stopgap software update that limits the phone's battery to 60 percent capacity, in a bid to prevent them from overheating.
"New devices will be in stores no later than tomorrow and we will continue to take the necessary actions to ensure users are powering down and immediately exchanging recalled devices," said Samsung Electronics America President Tim Baxter in a statement.
Read more about the recall at Samsung's recall web page.
