South Korean tech giant Samsung has ceased production of its Galaxy Note 7 after reports of the smartphones exploding and catching fire.

The company issued a statement on Tuesday saying it would be permanently stopping production for the sake of consumer safety.

It also advised all customers with an original or replacement Galaxy Note 7 to "power down and stop using the device" immediately.

"Because consumers' safety remains our top priority, Samsung will ask all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7 while the investigation is taking place," the statement read.

Owners will be able to exchange their Galaxy Note 7 for a different Samsung phone.

Samsung originally recalled the phones in September, after it was found that a manufacturing defect in the batteries had caused some of them to generate excessive heat, resulting in fires.

It was then reissued later that month but with batteries from a different supplier. However, reports of the phone blowing up continued, and worldwide sales were again suspended on 10 October 2016 before the company finally announced on 11 October that it would permanently end production.

At the time it was released, the Galaxy Note 7 was intended to be Samsung's top-end product and a rival to Apple's iPhone.

But instead, the controversy caused the company's shares to drop by 7.5 percent on Tuesday, which the Guardian reports as the company's biggest daily percentage decline since 2008.

The incident leaves the door open for other premium Android phones, like Google's new Pixel, to take some of Samsung's share of the market.

Images courtesy of Imgur and Flickr user Aaron Yoo.