Samsung today pulled the plug on the Galaxy Note7 handset, ostensibly putting an end to the embattled smartphone. Late Monday, the company asked carriers and retail partners to stop sales and exchanges of the phone while it continued its investigation. Today, the company went a step further. "Taking our customer's safety as our highest priority, we have decided to halt sales and production of the Galaxy Note7." The company urged all Note7 owners to power the device down and return it as soon as practical. A manufacturing defect of some mind impacted an unknown number of Note7 batteries, some of which overheated and caught fire causing burns and property damage. Samsung later identified what it thought were safe Note7 units and offered those as replacements. Unfortunately, a number of the Note7 replacement units deemed safe also caught fire. It's unclear what future the Galaxy Note series in general has now that Samsung has cancelled the Note7. Analysts cited by the Wall Street Journal suggest the cancellation could wipe about $2.8 billion in profit from Samsung's fourth quarter earnings. Investors have already punished Samsung's stock, and the company has lost some $17 billion in value this week alone.