After pushing a faulty update which "bricked" the Samsung phones of South Australian devices, new comments from the phone manufacturing giant reveal the issue may be more widespread than originally thought.

Samsung recently released its latest update (Samsung One UI 5.0 OS) enabling eligible phones an upgrade to Android 13.

Shortly after, customer reports began to surface of critical device failures once they'd installed the update, with users describing their phone as stuck in a unresponsive state displaying only a blank screen.

Other Samsung device owners detail being caught in an endless bootup loop that can't get past the Samsung logo.

After initially saying it had only received reports of this issue from customers based in South Australia, Samsung now says the issue has "primarily" affected customers in SA – indicating the phone-bricking update glitch has also occurred in other states.

"Samsung has identified a technical issue that affected a small number of customers based primarily in South Australia," a company statement read.

The company did not respond to Information Age questions about how many customers had been affected, or how widespread the problem was.

Meanwhile, first-hand accounts of this phone-crippling issue have continued to surface from New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.

Samsung is yet to comment on the cause of this state-specific glitch, however, some tech-minded Samsung customers have speculated it may be related to SA's unique time zone.

"It seems to only be happening in SA, so I'm assuming it's the +9.5 time offset which is the issue with the UI5 update," a user speculated on Reddit.

While many of these customers have been left with an inoperable device after installing the update, Samsung has announced an additional revised firmware update which may still be weeks away from a much-needed rollout.

"Following the release and installation of Android 13 update to Samsung devices that had been on Android 11, a small number of phones were locked in 'boot mode'," said Samsung Australia.

"A revised firmware update that will not experience this issue has been developed and will start being rolled out to customers over the coming weeks," it added.

Given the nature of this issue, customers whose devices are currently boot-locked may experience difficulty independently installing Samsung's revised update.

What to do

If your device is currently locked in boot made, Samsung suggests to "visit a Samsung service centre or call our team on 1300 362 603 to have your phone assessed."

Previously, customers who contacted the phone manufacturer's support avenues were reportedly told their only option was a full factory reset.

Those who paid for this option would face the unfortunate aftereffect of losing all photos, contacts, apps and data which hadn't been backed up.

On 8 January, Samsung Australia conceded to 7NEWS.com.au customers "should not have been charged" for any repairs related to the update glitch.

The company confirmed customers who take their device to a Samsung authorised service centre "will not be charged" for any repairs relating to the issue, and promised reimbursement for those who already paid.

“If they (a customer) have been previously been charged by a Samsung authorised service centre for repairs relating to this particular issue, they will be refunded for that work,” a spokesperson said.

For the time being, the advice from online troubleshooting communities is to forego installation of this problematic update until Samsung issues a notification of the issue being resolved.