Korean news outlet Hankyung (via ZDNet) has reported that Samsung will refurbish its faulty Galaxy Note 7 smartphones and sell them in India, Vietnam and other emerging markets. Of course, the Note 7 phones will be sold without the exploding batteries inside. It's believed the phones will be refurbished by the end of May for them to go on sale in June.

The refurbished devices are unlikely to make a return to the US or European countries after they were banned from being put on sale before being recalled.

Hankyung says that 98 per cent of the 3.06 million Galaxy Note 7s sent out to markets have been called back in, 200,000 of which have been used for extensive testing. It means Samsung has around 2.5 million Note 7s sitting around doing nothing losing the company money, so selling them on - a price hasn't been quoted just yet - makes good business sense.

Reselling the phones will also help Samsung avoid a hefty environmental fine if any unsold and unused units are not disposed of properly.

The battery in the original Galaxy Note 7 units was to blame for the recall and eventual cease in production, so those 3,500mAh units will be replaced with either 3,200mAh or 3,000mAh units instead.

The report also says the core components will remain but the phones will get new cases, so it's possible they won't be marketed as Galaxy Note 7s but instead be given a new name.