Verizon has conceded and will join the other major U.S. carriers in killing the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 with a disabling software update on Jan. 5. Previously, the carrier refused to kill the device, claiming it did not want to leave subscribers without a smartphone during the holiday season. Now, Verizon’s support page for the Galaxy Note 7 indicates it will move forward with the update.
The disabling update for the Galaxy Note 7 will render the device unable to charge, meaning once it runs out of power users will not be able to charge it again. The update will roll out as a completion to the Galaxy Note 7 recall, which began in September, but continued with a permanent discontinuation in October. Number Galaxy Note 7 owners reported spontaneously combusting devices, some of which caused injury to people and other damage. The Galaxy Note 7 is also banned from airlines globally.
Samsung will officially begin the end-of-life update rollout Dec. 19, with T-Mobile following on Dec. 27, AT&T on Jan. 5, and Sprint on Jan. 8. All carriers are still urging users to power down and return their Galaxy Note 7 handsets for refund or exchange before the update goes out.
Approximately 93 percent of Galaxy Note 7 handsets purchased in the U.S. have been returned, according to Samsung. Since the recall resulted in several lawsuits from Galaxy Note 7 owners, the manufacturer is fervent about getting the device off the market.
International carriers in markets such as New Zealand, Australia and Canada have already killed the Galaxy Note 7 with updates that disable their Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionality. Carriers in the U.K are deploying updates to cap the Galaxy Note 7 charging capacity at 30 percent.
