[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics plans to release the refurbished edition of the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 smartphone next month, industry sources said on June 27.

According to the sources, Samsung will release the smartphone under the name the Galaxy Note FE, with a price tag below 700,000 won (US$616). Official sales are slated to start July 7.

The Korean tech giant suspended production and sales of the Galaxy Note 7 last year amid reports that some of the devices caught fire while charging. A probe revealed that the problems were due to the non-removable battery.

Accordingly, the refurbished devices will have a smaller battery capacity than the original, along with the latest software updates.

By Alex Lee and newswires ()