Galaxy S5 units with non-working cameras few in number: Samsung

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said the number of its flagship Galaxy S5 smartphones shipped with non-working cameras was "very limited" and that it has taken measures to ensure the issue does not recur in new shipments.

Reports of the problem surfaced last week and come less than a month after the phone's global launch, with Samsung banking on the S5 to outdo its predecessor and rebuild momentum for the brand in an increasingly competitive market.

The South Korean firm has warned profits are likely to have fallen in January-March from a year earlier, its second straight quarter of decline.

"We have discovered that the issue has been seen in a very limited portion of early production Samsung Galaxy S5 units, and was caused by complications in the ROM (Read Only Memory) component which stores the information necessary to operate the camera," Samsung said in an emailed statement.

A company spokeswoman on Monday declined to specify the number of phones affected but said the problem had been reported in the United States and a few other countries.

A Samsung India spokesperson issued the following statement via email, "We have a very strong momentum on the Galaxy S5 sales and no such case has been reported in India from the handsets sold."

Customers affected by the S5 camera failure should contact Samsung's customer service or the mobile service provider, she said.

Edited by NDTV staff from original story by Reuters