In what is termed a breaking news, Samsung has officially halted production and sale of the defective premium phone; with rumors of a possibility the South Korea smartphone giant abandoning the entire Galaxy Note series.

Samsung said in a filing with South Korean regulators that it would permanently cease production and sales of the device, following a string of reported incidents in which supposedly safe replacements of the premium smartphone overheated and in some cases caught fire.

“Taking our customer’s safety as our highest priority, we have decided to halt sales and production of the Galaxy Note 7,” the company said.

The move comes on a day when investors wiped off about $17 billion from Samsung Electronic Co.’s market capitalization, as investors digested the possibility that the South Korean smartphone giant could discontinue the entire Galaxy Note series, more than a month after it launched its initial recall of the smartphone.

Shares in Samsung Electronics closed down 8% — its biggest daily percentage drop since 2008 according to Reuters — with almost $20 billion wiped off the company’s value since Tuesday.

Earlier the company said it was asking all telecom carriers and retailers that sell the Note 7 globally to stop sales and exchanges of the device pending investigation into the latest incidents. Major U.S. carriers already had made that move on their own.
Consumers with either an original or a replacement Note 7 should power down and stop using the device, said Samsung.

As the recall has gone from bad to worse for the world’s largest manufacturer of smartphones by shipments and sales, stock analysts have begun tallying up the likely financial hit for Samsung.