FIH Mobile acquired Sharp brand launches A1 & C1 Budget Smartphones in China

Sharp A1 and Sharp C1 are two devices that expected to be designed and developed by FIH Mobile. Many might be knowing that Sharp has been acquired by FIH mobiles in the month of August this year which is an Infocus-branded smartphone maker based in Taiwan. It is also one of Foxconn / Hon Hai Precision Industries subsidiaries that are building up more resources by promoting their smartphone under the Sharp brand in selected markets like China. LeEco is also one of the rising smartphone makers from China that are known for making smartphones, and TV's is said to been collaborating with FIH Mobiles for the software part.

There are many devices that have been released under the Sharp brand and few of which includes, Sharp Aquos A1, Sharp Aquos Z2, Sharp Aquos 507SH and more that can be checked from our list. It will be interesting to see if Sharp branding will help FIH mobiles to increase the market share in China about an year.

What do you think of this acquisition of Sharp by FIH mobile? Will it bring any impact in the market? Can this increase the market share in the coming future? For more news, stay tuned to PhoneRadar and do comment in the section below. Meanwhile, Apple has priced the 32GB variant of iPhone 7 at $649 and iPhone 7S Plus at $769. There is also an exclusive news that the iPhone 7 will be priced at Rs. 60,000 for 32 GB variant in India and will be launched on 7th of October.

Related

Source: FIH Mobile acquired Sharp brand launches A1 & C1 Budget Smartphones in China

Chinese Consumers May Be Experiencing ‘iPhone Fatigue’ As Product Launch Nears

Judging by the volume of online chatter, there's a lot less buzz in China ahead of this week's expected launch of the new Apple aapl iPhone, and people on the street say they're more likely to "wait and see" what the latest device offers than rush out to buy.

Posts on China's popular Sina Weibo microblogging site show the iPhone 6, which took China by storm in 2014 with its new, larger screen, attracted around 15 times more comments in the month before launch than this year's model.

The muted online anticipation for the iPhone 7 underlines the challenge Apple faces to revive growth in China, where an economic slowdown has slammed the brakes on what was once touted as the firm's next big growth engine.

Apple's Greater China sales dropped by a third in April-June, albeit after more than doubling a year earlier, and revenue was down by more than a quarter to $8.8 billion – around a fifth of its total sales. Its 7.8% market share ranked fifth in China, trailing local vendors Huawei Technologies, huawei OPPO, and Vivo, which together accounted for 47%, according to IDC data.

See also: Why Next Year's iPhone Might Be the One You Want

The California-based company's online stores for iBooks and movies was also closed in China after Beijing imposed strict curbs in March on online publishing, and Apple has been on the losing side of intellectual property battles here.

Beijing student Wang Yue, 23, said she was in no hurry to buy an iPhone 7. "I'm looking forward to the launch, but I won't rush to buy anything," Wang, who uses an iPhone 6S that was launched last year, told Reuters. "I want to know what new functions it's got. My feeling is there are no real major changes from the 6S, so I think I'll hold off for a while."

Apple is widely anticipated to unveil the new iPhone 7 at an event in San Francisco on Wednesday. The company, which doesn't give a regional breakdown for its iPhone sales, didn't respond to requests for comment.

Among half a dozen consumers Reuters spoke to most said they would first check out the new phone's functions or wait for the price to drop. Only one planned to definitely buy any new model.

"The word among consumers is the updates are not going to be revolutionary, but smaller changes," said Ben Cavender, Shanghai-based director at China Market Research Group, who described current consumer interest in China as "muted".

See also: Why More Than 80% of iPhone Owners Don't Want the Next Apple Watch

WAIT FOR EIGHT

More than anything else, the upcoming iPhone 7 may be a victim of the success of the iPhone 6.

China sales of the iPhone 6 soared in the first quarter of last year, helping drive up Apple's China revenues by 71%. A year later, weaker sales of the 6S contributed to the company's first global decline in iPhone sales and first revenue drop in 13 years – though globally the 6S was the top-selling smartphone in April-June, according to Strategy Analytics.

The research firm estimates iPhone shipments in China will decline 20% in the second half of this year to 21 million from a year ago.

"Apple is struggling with consumer 'iPhone fatigue' in China, while competition from Huawei, Oppo and others remains fierce," said Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston.

See also: Apple Should Get A Boost From Samsung's Exploding Batteries

Weibo chatter in the run-up to the iPhone 7 launch has, however, topped levels seen ahead of last year's 6S launch.

Some Chinese shoppers are even already eyeing a potential iPhone 8 model that could be launched with more significant changes next year, the 10th anniversary of the first iPhone.

"Because it's just one year, lots of people are choosing to wait for the iPhone 8," said Wang Bo, a finance worker in his thirties at a securities firm in Shanghai. "The changes with the 8 will be much bigger, which I think will be a drag on sales of the new phone this year."

Wang, who uses both an iPhone 6S and a Huawei P9, said he plans to buy this year's new iPhone when it's released in China.

But convincing other shoppers in China – and the United States – to replace their smartphone is a tougher sell today than in 2014, when many Chinese were buying an iPhone for the first time.

Concerns that Apple has hit "peak iPhone" have buffeted the firm's shares this year, with the stock price up just 2.35%, lagging the benchmark S&P 500 Index.

"The biggest thing that's changed since 2014 is that the iPhone is widely available," said Ben Thompson, who analyses the technology sector at Stratechery. "There's a lot more growth potential when people have their first chance to buy an iPhone, but that potential has now been realized."

Source: Chinese Consumers May Be Experiencing 'iPhone Fatigue' As Product Launch Nears

China-Based Global Leader in Visual Technology SuperD Launches World's First Full Display Mode Smartphone, the SuperD D1

SHANGHAI, CHINA --(Marketwired - September 06, 2016) - Shenzhen-based technology company SuperD hosted a conference announcing the launch of the world's First Full Display Mode Smartphone, the SuperD D1, in Beijing, on September 5th, 2016. The conference also served as the formal announcement of SuperD's entry into the mobile phone market. Several other new products, including the SuperD VR ZERO Helmet and SuperD VR ONE were also announced at the conference. Olympic Men's Doubles badminton champions Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan joined invited guests from the mobile phone industry and from mainstream media organizations at the conference, where they witnessed what was expected to be seen as an historic and revolutionary event taking place across the mobile phone sector, while getting an opportunit y to experience the world's first full display mobile phone.

http://www.freeuploadimages.org/images/jsv336m943sphrvjnso2.png

SuperD's CEO Michael Hsu

SuperD is a world-leading technology company that has developed a deep and substantial knowledge base within its area of expertise, and works closely with many of the world's top brands and producers in the electronics, digital display and videogame industries. Breaking into the mobile phone sector is not an impulsive move on the part of SuperD, but a calculated, transformative move after years of preparation and building up expertise and skillsets in the right areas.

The new products released at the conference are transformative in that they have delivered unprecedented experiences to both professionals as well as casual visitors who are frequent attendees at new mobile phone launch events. The guests had a chance to personally experience the new series of products from SuperD, including never before seen advanced technologies and features such as the full display functionality that allowed seamless switching among 2D, 3D and VR modes, an extraordinary glasses-free 3D screen, 3D/VR motion-sensing vision chips and eye-tracking cameras, features that garnered high praise from all guests.

SuperD D1: First Full Display Mode Smartphone

The SuperD D1 is the first to deploy the innovative concept of a full display mode mobile phone. With the ability to seamlessly switch between 2D, 3D and VR modes while holding the phone with just one hand, users have the unparalleled experience of full immersion into a 3D world. With the glasses-free raster 3D LCD screen developed by SuperD, users can experience the full immersive effect of 3D and VR without the need for inconvenient eyewear. This revolutionary experience was made possible through a combination of the latest in VR technology and smart headgear resulting in an end-to-end solution that brought together a VR chip, an exclusive VR platform and a customized VR helmet. The innovation in creating the solution took place when the SuperD VR motion-sensing vision chip was added to the preconfigured GPU of a traditional cell phone, which served to enhance the rendering speed of the 3D and VR images through the integration of the 3D/VR algorithm, fully resolving the issue of the slow calculation that took place when reproducing complex images, reducing image latency to an absolute minimum and allowing for the creation of corresponding body sensation, resulting in the display of clear and precise images. Moreover, the technology in the SuperD D1 camera goes beyond the rear dual camera technology applied to traditional smartphones, by deploying a front dual camera, with one of the cameras recording the images and the other tracking the exact position of the user's eyes, allowing for the customizing and simultaneous generation of the visual images based on the precise position of the eyes and the interpupillary distance (IPD, or precise distance between the centers of the user's two pupils). No matter which way and in which direction the user moves, a comfortable and clear 3D visual sensation will be delivered throughout the experience.

http://www.freeuploadimages.org/images/f2h97ul1z483ka63zja1.png

The world's first full display mobile phone, the SuperD D1

SuperD VR ZERO Helmet

The SuperD VR ZERO Helmet creates the image from any new visual angle or perspective within one second of any movement of the users body or head, with each image reproduced in full, precise, panoramic detail, fully satisfying the expectations of what the world is waiting for when it comes to VR and VR experiences. The SuperD VR ZERO Helmet misses no detail, delivering a complete, immersive experience!

Read More

SuperD VR ONE

The VR ONE is a micro display digital light mapping VR technology. SuperD took a unique approach to the application of optics and to the construction of the accompanying hardware to achieve an unparalleled visual effect within a substantially lighter and thinner device, something that none of the peer VR products have been able to achieve. Compared to other VR helmets, the SuperD VR ONE weighs less than 400g and is 30% smaller than all similar devices. The SuperD VR ONE comes equipped with an ultra HD LCD screen, with single eye PPI over 600. The algorithm that supports the software is capable of reproducing the panoramic views required by VR games and videos with a resolution up to 1080P. An exterior design based on the best that science and technology can deliver, combined with an inner de sign and a plethora of features straight from the most advanced technologies available today, deliver a product that is sure to perform head and shoulders above its peers in the highly competitive VR hardware field.

http://www.freeuploadimages.org/images/ty1dw7ldfytgcm1a6ma7.png

SuperD's new VR product : VR One

SuperD VR Content and Meidou Live TV Platforms

SuperD Technology also released the SuperD VR content and Meidou live TV platforms, both of which are capable of super huge storage of 3D and VR resources, including a massive number of 3D movies, hundreds of 3D/VR games, thousands of VR videos and numerous 3D/VR applications. Meidou Live TV has just launch a new kind of 3D/VR emcee live show platform that includes a daily update of content, with the result that Meidou has been transformed into a one-stop exclusive platform.

At the conference for the product launch, Olympic Men's Dual badminton champions Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan joined SuperD CEO Xu Peizhen in announcing that the new series of SuperD products will start crowd-funding on http://www.jd.com/, effective immediately. "Today I have the honor of seeing the SuperD full display mobile phone and it is amazing! It is an incredible amount of fun! I never knew cell phones could be used in this way!" Olympic champion Fu Haifeng highly praised SuperD's new products.

After more than a decade focusing on the research and development of visual display technology, SuperD has moved the strategic focus from the former B2B model to a B2C business model. Senior management of SuperD revealed that the company plans to apply the advantages of VR and 3D technologies to a wide array of consumer products and services encompassing mobile hardware, games, movies, TV and live broadcast events, offering users a brand new visual experience and form of entertainment, at the same time creating a closed-loop ecology which simultaneously includes the development of hardware, software and content based on technological innovation. These past and future achievements are the result of SuperD's years of dedication to bringing new technology that delivers fun experiences in terms of entertainment to consumers. It has been a thrilling journey into the unknown for SuperD, and, with the release of the SuperD D1 full display mobile phone, the company has succeeded in moving the world beyond the era of traditional smartphones. In the near future, SuperD Technology expects to keep delivering an uninterrupted continuum of unprecedented experiences to users as a result of leveraging advances in visual display technology. Changing life with technology, as well as making the latest advances in technology available to one and all, is a goal worth pursuing.

The SuperD D1 full display mobile phone will be available for ordering from September 12th simultaneously on http://www.jd.com/ and SuperD's official website (www.SuperD.cn). The price is RMB1199 and formal availability will commence on September 22nd.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/9/6/11G112886/Images/SuperD1-8b788760af2c959dbaf4dfca2a0ee1b2.jpgImage Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/9/6/11G112886/Images/SuperD2-efceabb0d0bf8f72977350010576062c.jpg

Source: China-Based Global Leader in Visual Technology SuperD Launches World's First Full Display Mode Smartphone, the SuperD D1

Lenovo unveils A Plus and P2 smartphone at IFA 2016

Similar to other smartphone makers, the Chinese manufacturer Lenovo also introduced its handsets at IFA 2016. The company has announced its Lenovo A Plus and Lenovo P2 with a price tag of EUR 69 (nearly Rs. 5,200) and EUR 249 (nearly Rs. 18,500) respectively.

Initially both of the smartphones will be available in European markets, while, soon they will reach to the Indian shores and other major smartphone markets. Lenovo has announced that it will launch the 4GB of RAM with 64GB storage model of the Lenovo P2 in China.

Lenovo P2

The Lenovo P2 comes featured with a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080×1920 pixels) Amoled display which is coupled with a 5-megapixel of front-facing camera. While, for primary photography solution the manufacturer offers a 13-megapixel of the rear camera with dual LED flash.

Running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, the smartphone is powered by a 2.0 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor which is coupled with 3GB of RAM. For internal storage, the phone comes up with 32GB of eMMC while it also support microSD cards for external storage.

The Lenovo P2 is successor to the battery-centric Lenovo P1 smartphone, and hence, it is fueled with a 5100 mAh of battery. With a cool set of specs the smartphone would attract users who demand a powerful battery in their phone.

Lenovo A Plus

The budget smartphone, Lenovo A Plus boasts a 4.5-inch FWVGA (480×854 pixels) display, 5-megapixel rear with LED flash and also houses a 2-megapixel front camera. It runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop which is supported by a 1.3 GHz MediaTek MT6580 processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. There is 8GB of storage which is further expandable up to 32GB by using a microSD card.

Tags: IFA, IFA 2016, lenovo, Lenovo A Plus Price, Lenovo A Plus Specifications, Lenovo Mobiles, Lenovo P2 Price, Lenovo P2 Specifications, Mobiles
Source: Lenovo unveils A Plus and P2 smartphone at IFA 2016

The Chinese are coming. Samsung is steady. So the iPhone 7 has to impress

Last year's iPhone 6S does not seem to have generated the consumer buzz of previous Apple smartphones. Photograph: Eric Risberg/AP

Wireless-only headphones? Dual rear cameras? Pressure-sensitive sensors? This year, as every year, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco will be crammed to the rafters with press and Apple well-wishers waiting for the pomp, circumstance and technical revelations of another iPhone launch. But this one, on Wednesday, is more important for Apple than it has been for a while.

After the huge success of 2014's iPhone 6 – which introduced a completely new design with larger screen sizes, attracting more people switching from rival Android phones than ever before – 2015's iPhone 6S has been a bit of a damp squib in terms of consumer buzz. And encroaching competition from China means Apple faces arguably the most competitive market conditions it has ever seen.

Not that sales have been anything to sniff at. Apple still shipped millions of iPhones over the last two years – more than 225m last year and more than 230m expected this year, according to analysts Gartner. But enthusiasm for the 6S has been at a level markedly below the model it replaced. Overall iPhone sales have been down by between 5m and 10m a quarter year-on-year since the 6S launched, despite the contribution of the newer, smaller iPhone SE, which has been popular in Europe.

That was in the face of the overall smartphone market increasing in size by 200m devices, reaching 1.4bn phones sold to end users in 2015.

As a consequence, Apple's share of the smartphone market fell in the last three quarters to 11.7%, according to data from analysts IDC. Apple's arch-rival Samsung, the world's largest smartphone manufacturer, stayed relatively constant with a share of roughly 23% in the same period; it was the likes of China's Huawei, which jumped from just over 5% to closer to 8.5% year-on-year, that saw the gains.

IDC's Francisco Jeronimo says: "The biggest challenge facing Apple is the decline in the smartphone market we're going to see as device penetration hits 80-85%." At that point, he says, it's not about attracting buyers who are purchasing their first smartphone – "it's about convincing existing users to upgrade and attracting buyers from other brands".

The rising stars of the Chinese smartphone industry, including Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi, have turned from making cheap and cheerful products to producing desirable phones featuring refined functions found on much more expensive rivals. It is these companies, many contend, that are eating into Apple's bottom line.

Apple is not alone in being undercut by comparable devices costing as little as one-third the price: Samsung has managed to maintain pace, but previously big-name Android manufacturers such as HTC, Sony and LG have struggled to stay competitive.

Jeronimo says: "I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple overtaken by Huawei as the second-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world in the next two years. Apple is just not investing as much money at the point of sale as Samsung in the face of Huawei's rapid rise."

Perhaps market share isn't the be-all and end-all, but it has affected Apple's bottom line: the company has posted two straight quarters of year-on-year declines in revenue.

So what does Apple have in response to the growing competition? Reports indicate the company will be more or less sticking to the tried-and-trusted iPhone 6 design externally, with an aluminium back, curved sides and glass front. The 6 and 6S were almost indistinguishable when placed side by side, and if rumours are to be believed, the same will be true of the iPhone 7 (or whatever it ends up being called).

Instead, Apple is expected to improve the technology inside the device – as it and everyone else does every year. The iPhone's familiar home button may see its first big change since the introduction of a fingerprint sensor in 2013 by becoming pressure-sensitive, according to Bloomberg.

Dual rear cameras have also become relatively common in the last year, with manufacturers such as Huawei and LG launching several phones sporting two lenses on the back. Apple could do the same, providing extra functions and improving low-light performance.

Perhaps, though, the rumour that has caused the most commotion is that Apple will be ditching the long-lived headphone jack. The ubiquitous 3.5mm socket, which is common to smartphones, tablets, computers, games consoles, televisions and hi-fis alike, could be going the way of the dodo, leaving only Apple's Lightning port in its place – and rendering almost any set of older wired headphones obsolete without an adapter.

Jeronimo says: "For Apple, it's about managing the expectations of its massive installed base – no one in the industry has larger – and encouraging them to spend more within the Apple ecosystem and on services, as people upgrade more slowly and smartphone innovation becomes more and more incremental."

Source: The Chinese are coming. Samsung is steady. So the iPhone 7 has to impress

Opportunities arise in Southeast Asian smartphone market

BII See Also THE MOBILE PAYMENTS REPORT: Market forecasts, consumer trends, and the barriers and benefits that will influence adoption Millennials have no use for your mobile ads THE WIRELESS CARRIERS REPORT: Industry shake-ups, ripple effects across mobile, and the big changes ahead

This story was delivered to BI Intelligence Apps and Platforms Briefing subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.

Smartphone shipments in Southeast Asia grew 6.5% year-over-year (YoY) during Q2 2016, reaching 28 million devices, according to the IDC.

Southeast Asia is a growth hot spot for the smartphone market. Along with India and South America, this region is providing stakeholders in the industry, such as app developers, mobile operators, and device makers, with substantial opportunities amid the decelerating global smartphone market.

In particular, the report highlights three trends in Southeast Asia:

Slow 4G adoption was triggered by carrier deals. In a rush to upgrade customers from 2G networks to 3G networks, carriers began offering substantial deals to users, including free data and heavily discounted smartphones, the IDC notes. This reduced the number of potential 4G customers in the region. However, the market is changing, as 4G networks are accounting for a larger share, ushering in greater device performance.

Demand for high-end devices is increasing. Lower-tiered devices will continue to account for a majority of device shipments in the region; in Q2 2016, they accounted for 68%. Nevertheless, as users look to replace their devices, it's likely they will look to premium devices for better specifications and performance. This will encourage usage of more data-heavy apps and allow advertisers to serve richer ads.

Local and Chinese vendors are eating up the market. Just as in India, local and China-based vendors are able to undercut larger retailers, flooding the market with highly affordable low-end devices. These vendors will begin shifting this strategy as the Southeast Asian market starts upgrading to premium models, making low-end devices an unsustainable business model.

App downloads in Southeast Asia are on the upswing. This growth will be further ignited by the overall shift to better-performing devices and cell networks. This provides a significant opportunity for businesses and developers looking to increase their global footprint in the region, or APAC generally.

Keep in mind, though, that the global smartphone market is expected to slow considerably over the next few years. Despite a record-setting holiday quarter, 2015 was likely the last year of double-digit growth for smartphone shipments.

Mature markets were at the heart of this year's deceleration. Adoption has reached new highs in key markets in the United States, Europe, and China. The pool of first-time buyers in these countries is shrinking rapidly, and sales are now primarily coming from phone upgrades.

Meanwhile, emerging markets will continue to see robust shipment growth. India and Indonesia, in particular, will help fuel a large share of the shipments growth within the global smartphone market over the next few years.

BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on smartphones by country that forecasts the market through 2021 to reflect slower, stabilizing growth in the long term.

Here are some key points from the report:

The global smartphone market is still growing at a steady pace due to more widespread adoption in emerging markets. We estimate the global market will hit about 2.1 billion units shipped in 2021.

Shipments growth over the past few years has been driven by the falling price of smartphones, which has made handsets more accessible in emerging markets. The average selling price of a smartphone in India nearly halved between 2010 and 2015.

With relatively low smartphone penetration, we forecast Indian smartphone shipments to grow rapidly over the next five years. Nevertheless, India has a long way to go before it surpasses China as the world's leading market for smart handsets. India is estimated to account for roughly 10% of the global smartphone market in 2016, considerably less than China's 30% share.

The global platform wars are over, even as smartphone adoption continues to rise across various markets worldwide. Android and iOS are estimated to account for 97.3% of global platform market share in 2015, compared to 96.3% last year.

Apple closed the year with another strong quarter on the back of its iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus launches. Still, the vendor saw a slight decline in YoY growth of its share of the market in the face of stiff competition from Samsung and Chinese vendors such as Huawei.

In full, the report:

Forecasts global smartphone shipments through 2021.

Explores why India is the next high-growth smartphone market.

Breaks down the global smartphone platform wars.

Discusses smartphone vendor performance market share.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP

Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you've given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the smartphone market.

Source: Opportunities arise in Southeast Asian smartphone market

Report: Samsung to recall phones after explosion claims

By YOUKYUNG LEEAP Technology Writer

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Samsung will issue a global recall of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone as soon as this weekend after its investigation on explosion claims found batteries were at fault, according to South Korea's Yonhap News.

Samsung Electronics refused comment on the report on Friday. It said it was conducting the inspection with its partners.

"We will share the findings as soon as possible. Samsung is fully committed to providing the highest quality products to our consumers," the company said in a statement.

The company was due to hold a news conference later Friday about the findings of its investigation and plans for the Galaxy Note 7.

Samsung launched the Note 7 on Aug. 19 in some markets, including South Korea and the U.S. Shipments were delayed in South Korea this week for extra quality control testing after reports that batteries of some of the jumbo smartphones exploded while they were being charged.

South Korean high school teacher Park Soo-Jung said she rushed to buy the Galaxy Note 7, pre-ordering and then activating it on Aug. 19, its official launch date.

The 34-year-old living in the port city of Busan said by email that she was bruised when she rushed out of bed after her phone burst into flames, filling her bedroom with smoke smelling of chemicals.

Park said she's having second thoughts about buying another newly released tech gadget, especially after losing all her personal data stored in the destroyed Note 7.

An employee of a Samsung service center in Busan who visited Park's school to retrieve the scorched phone confirmed that her Galaxy Note 7 caught fire and said the sample was sent to the company's headquarters.

Park said Samsung offered her a full refund and compensation of 300,000 won ($269). She did not accept the compensation.

"If the exploded phone in flame was near my head, I would not have been able to write this post," she said in a popular online forum on Thursday, where she shared a photo of the scorched Note 7 and described dousing the burning phone with water.

Citing an unnamed company official, Yonhap said Samsung's investigation has found that faulty batteries have caused phones to catch fire. It said Samsung estimates that the number of Galaxy Note 7 phones with the faulty battery accounts for "less than 0.1 percent" of the products in the market. Samsung is discussing how to resolve the issue with Verizon and its other partners, the official told Yonhap.

SK Telecom, South Korea's largest mobile carrier, said about 400,000 units of the Galaxy Note 7 were estimated to have been sold in South Korea.

Samsung beat expectations with stellar earnings in the latest quarter and its stock price was at a record high before news emerged of the Note 7's battery problems. The company's shares rose 0.8 percent early Friday after falling 2 percent the day before.

Despite the investigation in South Korea, Samsung went ahead with its scheduled launch Thursday of the Galaxy Note 7 in China. Company officials did not reply to questions about how Samsung determined which phones are deemed safe and which require further testing. It did not say if those phones are different from the ones sold in South Korea.

Yonhap News said five or six explosions were reported by consumers, including Park's case, citing pictures and reports of severely damaged phones shared in local online communities, social media and YouTube. Other photos and accounts, other than Park's, could not be immediately verified.

There were no confirmed reports of any injuries.

It is unusual for Samsung to confirm a delay in sales of a device, and rare for it to cite a quality issue.

"Every year, there have been accidents of battery explosions but it is the first time that six or seven cases happened within such a short period after the launch of a new product," said Ha Joon-doo, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp.

The Galaxy Note 7 smartphone is the latest iteration of Samsung's Note series that feature a giant screen and a stylus and usually inherit designs and features of the Galaxy S series that debut in the spring. Samsung also added an iris scanner to the Note 7, which lets users unlock the phone by detecting patterns in the eyes.

Even before the issue of battery explosions emerged, supplies were not keeping up with higher-than-expected demand for the smartphone.

__

Lee can be reached on Twitter: www.twitter.com/YKLeeAP

Her previous works can be found on: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/youkyung-lee

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: Report: Samsung to recall phones after explosion claims