In an update on Samsung's official page for the ongoing global recall of the Galaxy Note 7 due to exploding batteries, the company stated that more than 500,000 new replacement units of the smartphone will be made available to United States customers today, Sept. 21.
The replacement devices will be able to cover at least half of the 1 million recalled Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in the country.
In the statement, Samsung said that the replacement devices have arrived in the United States and have been sent out to carriers and retail stores yesterday, Sept. 20.
"Working hand in hand with the CPSC, we are delivering as promised and moving quickly to educate consumers about the recall and make new Note 7s available," said Samsung Electronics America President Tim Baxter.
Samsung did indeed deliver as it promised, as Samsung previously said that majority of the replacement Galaxy Note 7 smartphones will be in retail locations by Sept. 21.
The new batch of Galaxy Note 7 devices that will be made available today are intended only for customers looking to take up Samsung's exchange offer. It is not yet known when retail sales of the smartphone will resume, though reports indicate that it would come by late October.
The arrival of 500,000 replacement Galaxy Note 7 devices comes as Samsung claims that 25 percent of the smartphones in the United States have so far been sent back under the recall program, which is a significant improvement compared with the 13 percent rate reported a few days ago.
According to a spokesperson for the company, in a statement to The Verge, the percentage represents an "extraordinarily fast start" toward Samsung's goal of taking out all Galaxy Note 7 devices with faulty batteries out of circulation.
For the safety of the customers and the people around them, the arrival of the replacement smartphones will hopefully further hasten the exchange process, as owners will no longer have to wait if they would want to swap their Galaxy Note 7 with devices from the new batch.
In the same statement announcing the release of the replacement of Galaxy Note 7 devices, Samsung also revealed that it will be rolling out a software update for the new smartphones. The update will change the color of the battery icon in the display of the smartphone from white to green, which will make it easier for users and authorities such as airport personnel to spot unsafe Galaxy Note 7 smartphones.
A software update will also be pushed out to the recalled Galaxy Note 7 units, which will cause a notice to appear whenever the user powers up or charges the smartphone that warns against the usage of the device.
