60% of Defective Note7 Phones Have Been Exchanged, Samsung Says

— -- Almost two weeks after announcing an official recall of its Note7 smartphones, Samsung said on Tuesday that more than 60 percent of the phones sold in the U.S. that were affected by the battery issue have been exchanged or replaced.

Users of the affected Note7 smartphones could choose a replacement of the same model, an exchange for a different model or a refund.

Samsung said on Tuesday that about 90 percent of owners have elected to receive a replacement of the same model.

The statistics were announced six days after replacement Note7 smartphones became available in the U.S. At that time, the company said that about 130,000 of the approximately 1 million affected devices in the U.S. had been exchanged.

Owners who have not exchanged their phones now face nagging warning messages and a cap on how much they can charge the batteries, after the company rolled out a software update for affected devices.

The government recall, announced on Sept. 15, and Samsung's exchange program followed several reports that Note7 smartphones were exploding or catching fire. When the official recall was announced, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said, "Samsung has received 92 reports of the batteries overheating in the U.S., including 26 reports of burns and 55 reports of property damage, including fires in cars and a garage."

ABC News' Daniel Steinberger contributed to this report from Washington.