--breaking news--Samsung Galaxy Note 7 production permanently ended after battery explosions

Tuesday 11 October 201611.53 BSTLast modified on Tuesday 11 October 201612.03 BST

South Korean electronics company to kill off its flagship smartphone after failing to fix problems with batteries catching fire


Samsung has confirmed that it is permanently stopping production of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after it was involved in dozens of fires and explosions worldwide.

In a regulatory filing in South Korea late on Tuesday, the firm said it had made the decision to stop production, for the sake of consumer safety.

The move comes the day after Samsung said it was “adjusting production”, an admission that many saw as the first steps towards killing the phone entirely.

It said in a statement: “Putting consumer safety as the top priority, we have reached a final decision to halt production of Galaxy Note 7s.” A spokesperson confirmed that the suspension was “permanent”.

Samsung said customers will still be allowed to apply for a full refund or to swap their Note 7s for other Samsung products. It also advised all customers with an original or replacement Galaxy Note 7 to “power down and stop using the device” immediately.

In discontinuing the phone, Samsung follows the advice of many analysts who saw it as a lost cause, and who argued that the company’s priority should be protecting the rest of its brand.

“If it’s once, it could be taken as a mistake. But for Samsung, the same thing happened twice with the same model so there’s going to be a considerable loss of consumer faith,” said Greg Roh at HMC Investment Securities.

“The reason consumers prefer brands like Samsung and Apple is because of product reliability … so in this case brand damage is inevitable and it will be costly for Samsung to

Google, Disney, Apple won't bid for Twitter; stock plummets almost 10 percent

By Rob Thubron on October 6, 2016, 7:30 AM



The last few weeks have been awash with claims that several large companies are showing an interest in buying ailing social network/news site Twitter. The prospect of an acquisition sent the company’s share price soaring, but it seems this may have been slightly premature: all of the former suitors are no longer planning to make a bid for Twitter.

Last month, Disney became the latest company to be linked with a possible Twitter takeover, but Recode reports that although the organization had considered a bid, it won’t be making an offer, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Google has been showing an interest in acquiring Twitter for over a year. Many expected Sundar Pichai’s company to make a move; after the failure of Google+, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Google try to break into social media with an established, if struggling, platform. However, sources close to the situation say Google won’t be moving forward with a bid.

Apple was also thought to be considering an offer, but sources say that Twitter should have “low expectations” of hearing from the iPhone maker. With those three companies all but ruling themselves out, it appeared that cloud computing giant Salesforce was favorite to step in. But Business Insider reports that CEO Marc Benioff doesn’t seem that enthusiastic.

"I think it’s a great brand and I just wish Jack [Dorsey] very well...good on his company, that’s how I look at it today," Benioff said. "We look at everything, and we don’t buy most things, and we haven’t agreed to buy that company [...] it’s an unpolished jewel."

A Bloomberg report claims that the situation is made worse by an internal battle between CEO Jack Dorsey, who wants to keep Twitter independent, and co-founder and board member Ev Williams, who believes selling the firm is the best option. The in-fighting has reportedly led to Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto seizing de facto control of the company.

All this is bad news for Twitter. Its stock fell more than 9 percent to $22.58 in after-hours trading on the news that it’s struggling to find a buyer.

Apple will sell fewer smartwatches in 2016 than it did last year

By Rob Thubron on October 4, 2016, 9:30 AM


Respected KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has a history of making accurate predictions regarding Apple products, but the iPhone maker will likely be hoping his latest estimates prove wrong. Kuo believes the company will sell fewer Apple Watches this year than it did in 2015.

Kuo had predicted that Apple would ship between 10 million to 10.5 million Apple Watches in 2016. The figures includes both the original Series 1 model and the recently released Series 2.

But in a note to investors obtained by Business Insider, Kuo revised his estimates. He now believes that 8.5 million to 9 million Apple Watches will ship by the end of the year – a drop of 15 to 25 percent from his original prediction. He has, however, raised shipping estimates for the Apple Watch Series 2 by 10 percent, though this isn’t enough to stop the overall sales figure from decreasing.

Apple hasn’t revealed how many of its original wearables have sold since they launched in April last year, so estimates tend to vary wildly. Kuo believes 10.4 million units shipped during the eight months the Apple watch was available in 2015, meaning fewer units are predicted to sell in 2016 - despite the longer selling time.

So why the pessimistic outlook from Kuo? He identifies four main reasons why the smartwatches aren't selling as well as Apple hoped. Like similar devices, the lack of a “killer” app and a poor battery life are major issues for many consumers. Kuo also identifies a reliance on