[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics is recalling almost 200,000 Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in China following the company’s decision to halt sales and replacement of the bigger-screen phone due to safety concerns.

The Korean tech giant excluded China when it announced the first recall of 2.5 million Note phones in September, saying the phones sold in China used different batteries from those that caught fire while charging.




But the situation has been reversed in recent weeks as there have been several reports of fire and explosion even in replacement phones with a new battery.

Following sales suspension in the US and Korea, China’s product safety authorities also ordered Samsung to recall all the phones, about 190,984 units sold since the Chinese launch on Sept. 1.

Samsung is offering a refund for the Note phone or replacing it with a new Samsung smartphone together with a 300 yuan (US$45) cash coupon.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)