Samsung has finally killed the Galaxy Note 7

The Galaxy Note 7 has been put out of its misery by Samsung. The company has announced the end of production for the beleaguered smartphone, just a day after it halted sales and a short while after limiting the numbers being made at its factories.

 In a statement, Samsung said it’s, “putting consumer safety as top priority,” and, “reached a final decision to halt production of the Galaxy Note 7.”

At this time, the Galaxy Note 7 isn’t being produced, isn’t being sold, and those that do remain aren’t being exchanged for another unit. Instead, Samsung is offering a refund or an exchange for another Samsung phone. The Galaxy Note 7 as we know it is now a thing of the past.

Sales of the Note 7 stopped on October 10, and stores with the phone still in stock were told not to make like-for-like exchanges. At this time, first generation versions of the Note 7 were being swapped for replacement models that had been passed as safe by Samsung. This followed the recall which began in August, after Note 7 phones began catching fire, or dangerously overheating. However, the replacement models also suffered from problems, which led to Samsung’s decision to end sales and now, production.

Samsung hailed the Note 7 as the “Next Big Thing” on its announcement, and analysts predicted sales topping 12 million in 2016, a healthy addition to the more than 75 million phones it shipped out in the three months leading up to the summer. It hasn’t released sales numbers, or recall numbers for the Galaxy Note 7, but early estimates indicated it sold around 2.5 million Note 7 phones in the first weeks of release alone. Samsung will not have made the decision to end production and sales lightly.

Will the Galaxy Note 7 rise again? It’s unclear whether this marks the absolute end for the device. The total investment in its development and subsequent failure must already be huge, and it’s questionable how many people will want to buy another, further revised version even if it is deemed safe by Samsung. Perhaps fans of big Samsung phones will now have to wait for the Galaxy Note 8.

If you own a Samsung Galaxy Note 7, Samsung warns you to stop using it and keep it switched off. Visit our guide to the recall here to find out what to do next.