Samsung is planning to start selling the ill-fated Note 7 again
Thomson Reuters
Tech giant Samsung said on Monday it plans to sell refurbished versions of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones that were pulled from markets due to fire-prone batteries.
Samsung said in a statement it will determine in which markets it will sell the refurbished Note 7s after discussions with relevant regulatory authorities and carriers.
The near-$900 phones were scrapped about two months after their launch in one of the biggest product safety failures in tech history.
The company also plans to recover and use or sell reusable components such as chips and camera modules and extract rare metals used in Note 7s such as copper, gold, nickel and silver.
A Samsung spokesperson said that the move is intended to reduce the environmental impact of all the devices returned after the company was forced to issue a recall. It's also possible the refurbished phones will launch with a different name, the spokesperson said. That could potentially clear up any confusion since the Note 7 has been banned from airlines.
The refurbished phones won't be sold in the US, either. Samsung will likely target emerging markets instead. The company will announce naming, pricing, and availability for each region.
(Reporting by Se Young Lee; editing by David Clarke)