Samsung Confirms Faulty Batteries as Cause of Note 7 Fires
Samsung’s probe into its Galaxy Note 7 fiasco has found that the overheating and burning of the phones was caused by defective batteries.
The firm had axed its iPhone rival in October last year after an earlier botched recall and re-release.
On Monday, Samsung said that neither software nor hardware other than the batteries were at fault.
The recall is thought to have cost $5.3bn (£4.3bn) and was hugely damaging for the South Korean firm’s reputation.
Internal and independent investigations “concluded that batteries were found to be the cause of the Note 7 incidents”, the South Korean technology giant said in a statement.
The company said that errors both in design and manufacturing affected batteries by two different manufacturers.
According to the findings the problems centre on the large batteries not fitting well into the phones, as well as insufficient insulation material within the batteries.
Samsung said it was “taking responsibility for our failure to ultimately identify and verify the issues arising out of the battery design and manufacturing process”.
Launched in August 2016, Samsung’s Note 7 device was marketed as a large-screen top-end device and positioned as a rival to Apple’s iPhone.
In September though, Samsung had to recall about 2.5 million phones after complaints of overheating and exploding batteries.
The firm insisted that all replaced devices were safe. However, that was followed by reports that those phones were also overheating.
Lessons to learn
The company said there would be no repeat of the fires in future devices such as the upcoming S8.
“We look forward to moving ahead with a renewed commitment to safety. The lessons of the past several months are now deeply reflected in our processes and in our culture.”
Samsung Note 7 – how events unfolded
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24 August: The first report of a Note 7 “exploding” appears in the news, soon followed by images of more smouldering Samsungs.
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2 September: Samsung announces a voluntary global recall of 2.5 million Note 7 phones, citing faulty batteries. It offers refund or replacement.
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8 September: US aviation authorities and many airlines tell passengers not to turn on or charge the phone on planes.
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9 September: The US Consumer Product Safety Commission tells people to stop using the phone and on 15 September issues a formal recall.
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5 October: Reports emerge of a replacement Note 7 overheating on a US flight. In the following days more reports appear and major US carriers stop selling the device or issuing replacements.
Courtesy : BBC
Image copyrightAFPImage captionSome reviews had described the Note 7 as being the best Android handset to date
Image copyrightAFPImage captionThe head of the firm’s smartphone business, Koh Dong-jin, apologised on behalf of the company at a press conference