SEOUL: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has recalled all Galaxy Note 7 smartphones equipped with batteries it has found to be fire-prone and halted their sales in 10 markets, denting a revival of the firm’s mobile business.

Koh Dong-jin, head of the South Korean company’s smartphone business, expressed regret over the recall, which will affect markets including South Korea and the United States, at a news conference on Friday.

Models in China feature a different battery and are not being recalled by the world’s biggest smartphone vendor.

The recall comes just over two weeks after the launch of Samsung’s latest premium phone, which features an outsized screen and high-resolution camera, and follows reports of the 988,900 won ($885) phone igniting while charging.

Koh, who declined to comment on the number of phones needing replacement, said Samsung had sold 2.5 million of the premium devices so far. The manufacturer plans to replace not only phones with faulty batteries sold to consumers, but also retailer inventories and units in transit. Nomura estimated that more than 1 million units have been sold to end consumers.

“I can’t comment on exactly how much the cost will be, but it pains my heart that it will be such a big number,” Koh said.

The scale of the recall is unprecedented for Samsung, which prides itself on its manufacturing prowess. While recalls in the smartphone industry do happen, including for rival Apple Inc , the nature of the problem for the Galaxy Note 7 is a serious blow to Samsung’s reputation, analysts said.

It must act quickly to minimise damage to its smartphone recovery, after a string of product successes had reversed a fall in market share, they added.

CUSTOMERS PUT ON HOLD

The phone first launched in 10 markets in North America, Asia and the Middle East. Further roll-outs have occurred since in markets like China, where sales started just this week. Its wider availability, set for coming weeks, is now on hold. While there are occasional reports of phones catching fire or otherwise burning users, documented cases that lead to widespread product recalls remain relatively rare. Samsung said it was aware of 35 reports of affected Note 7 batteries.

In 2007, the largest battery recall in consumer electronics history took place when Nokia, then the world’s top mobile handset maker, offered to replace 46 million phone batteries produced for it by Japanese maker Matsushita Battery.—Reuters