China Daily Global Edition (USA)

Galaxy Note 7 banned in office

- By HUANG ZHILING in Chengdu huangzhili­ng@ chinadaily.com.cn

A government department in Chengdu, Sichuan province, banned its employees from using Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone­s in the office, following moves by domestic airlines and national civil aviation authoritie­s to ban the use of the phone model on airplanes.

Chengdu Service, the micro blog account of Chengdu’s Government Affairs Service Center, posted a notice to employees on Monday that it would ban the use of the smartphone­s for safety reasons.

The notice said monitoring would be increased in an area outside its office that was set up to provide free internet and recharging services for visitors.

“If visitors are found recharging Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones, you should persuade them to stop,” the notice said.

However, after some media outlets reported that the ban was targeting visitors to the service center, the post was removed with an explanatio­n that the rule is an in-house policy for employees, not visitors.

Jing Rong, an office worker at the center, said on Tuesday that she has been informed of the new policy, and she would use her old phone, an iPhone 5, to replace her GalaxyNote 7.

“My superior said the center’s decision-makers thought the phone’s battery might cause a fire or explosion when she said.

The Civil Aviation Administra­tion of China has banned passengers from using or recharging Galaxy Note 7 cellphones on domestic flights. It has also banned them in checked luggage.

At least five Galaxy Note 7 users inChina have reported that their phones exploded, although it’s unknown whether the incidents were related to battery issues.

The latest incident was reported on Tuesday, with Liaoning TV reporting that a resident experience­d his Galaxy Note 7 vibrating, becoming hot and burning.

Samsung said it will recall 1,858 Galaxy Note 7 cellphones that were manufactur­ed between July 20 and Aug 5 and distribute­d in China through a Samsung website as part of a trial before the official Sept 1 launch date, according to the country’s product quality watchdog.

Globally, since the debut of the Galaxy Note 7 last month, there have been about 100 reported incidents of battery explosions.

On Taisheng South Road in downtown Chengdu, which is the busiest street for cellphone transactio­ns in the city, almost all stores specializi­ng in Samsung cellphones sell the Galaxy Note 7 for 5,988 yuan ($898).

“Few buyers are showing interest in the model,” said Ke Xiqian, a sales representa­tive at a Samsung store. it is > p11 recharged,”

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