Billions Burned Off Samsung's Market Cap On News Of Galaxy Note 7 Delay Due To Exploding Batteries

Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONIC KRW5000) SSNLF suffered a major setback on Thursday when its Korean-listed stock (KRX: 005935) (KRX: 005930) shed $7 billion of market value.

According to Reuters, the company said it has decided to delay shipments of its high-end Galaxy Note 7 smartphone following reports of exploding batteries.

Naturally, the timing of Samsung's announcement is troubling, as Apple Inc. AAPL, Samsung's largest competitor within the high-end smartphone segment, is expected to introduce its latest iPhone next week.

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Samsung had hoped to maintain the strong momentum seen as of late, but a delay in shipments due to quality control testing all but guarantees Apple will gain at the very least a near-term edge.

"This is some major buzz-kill for Samsung, especially given all of the hard-earned excitement that products like the Note 7 have [sic.] been garnering lately," Bloomberg quoted IDC analyst Bryan Ma as saying. "The pending Apple launch puts all the more pressure for them to contain this quickly. The timing of this couldn't have been worse."

Reuters also noted that Samsung did not detail specific issues with the battery, but several images and videos of burnt Galaxy Note 7 devices were spread across social media and news sites.

For instance, Business Korea posted an image of a charred Galaxy Note 7, as the phone was already released to major Korean cell phone providers. New shipments have now been halted.

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