A small manufacturing flaw in the Galaxy Note 7 battery may be the cause of a giant headache for Samsung. Show  Samsung's preliminary report has found a small manufacturing flaw in the Galaxy Note 7's battery. There have been at least 35 reported cases of the phone exploding. Crushader/Imgur The Korean technology powerhouse believes it's tracked down the reason why its flagship device has been exploding across the world, prompting a recall of more than 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7s. In its report to the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, Samsung's preliminary findings show a production error that pushed together negative and positive poles within battery cells, causing it to heat up excessively, the company said. "It is a very rare manufacturing error," a Samsung spokesperson said on Wednesday. The manufacturing flaw resulted in a disastrous launch for the Galaxy Note 7, with at least 35 reported cases of the smartphone exploding since its release August 19. The device has since been recalled around the world, with the US government formally urging owners to shut down the devices and stop charging them. The Federal Aviation Administration has also warned Note 7 owners against using the smartphones on planes. Samsung continues to dig into what exactly caused the battery explosions, but believes the production error is a contributing factor. The Note 7 had been hailed as a success, and had powerful momentum going head to head with Apple's iPhone 7 up until the explosions started. Since then, the Note 7 has caused $1,400 in damages to an Australian hotel room. On Saturday, a 6-year-old boy in Brooklyn, New York, had his hand burned from a Samsung Galaxy Core, CBS New York reported. As the investigation continues, Samsung has offered to replace for free every Note 7, as a precaution to prevent any future explosions. For its next batch of Note 7s, the company is planning to switch from its main supplier of batteries, its sister company Samsung SDI, to China's ATL, which is Apple's main supplier for iPhone batteries, according to ZDNet. You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung’s mobile communications business, said, “We are taking responsibility for our failure to ultimately identify and verify the issues arising out of the battery design and manufacturing process prior to the launch of the Note 7.”Credit...Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters
HONG KONG — Samsung, the South Korean conglomerate, blamed battery manufacturing problems and design flaws for the embarrassing and costly failure of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone and apologized to its customers and suppliers. In a news conference that took place on Monday morning in South Korea, Samsung and outside experts said batteries made by two suppliers contained flaws that allowed the phones to overheat and in several cases catch fire. But they also cited what they said were flaws in the design of the phone, including an unusually thin lining between the electrodes of the battery. Samsung said it would form an outside battery advisory group and add teams focused on the quality assurance of each core component of the device. “We are taking responsibility for our failure to ultimately identify and verify the issues arising out of the battery design and manufacturing process prior to the launch of the Note 7,” said Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung’s mobile communications business. During the almost hourlong presentation, Samsung offered an extensive technical explanation of the problems with the battery but little insight into the breakdowns that caused the company to fail to identify the problems. Mr. Koh said the lessons the company had learned had been integrated into its processes and culture, yet offered no explanation of how the culture would change or what the problems with the culture were. The cancellation of the Galaxy Note 7 has been an unprecedented public relations disaster for Samsung, the world’s largest maker of smartphones. It has also cost the company billions of dollars and, for some critics in South Korea, even called into question the very business model that has made Samsung so successful. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. What caused the battery explosion in the Note 7?Samsung released its official findings on 23 January 2017. The investigation found that the battery failures were caused by short-circuiting of the battery electrodes as a result of manufacturing defects. What is the problem with the battery of Samsung Galaxy Note 7?The problem with the lithium-ion battery used in the original batch of Note 7s was traced to its internal structure, which comprises layers of positive and negative electrodes. In some cases, the battery was squashed in one corner, forcing the tips of the layer of negative electrodes to curve over, Samsung said. How many note 7s blew up?An official investigation revealed reports of 13 burns and 47 reports of property damage directly related to the recall. Figures suggest a total of 1.9 million phones will be affected by the recall including the initial one million original Note 7s, and 900,000 'replacement' handsets. What happened to Note 7 customers? Which Samsung phone battery caught fire?Back in 2016, fires in the Samsung Note 7 led to the largest phone recall in history, when about 2.5 million devices were recalled around the world. An investigation found the phone's casing was too small for the batteries, causing them to short-circuit and overheat. |
