The Samsung Galaxy Note 7
The OEM has suspended sales of the Galaxy Note 7 after some exploded or caught fire while charging.
The Guardian reported on the OEM’s suspension of sales for the new device after “35 cases of newly-launched devices exploding while being charged”, all confirmed by Samsung. The article added that the OEM has “stop[ped] short of [a] full recall” for the devices, but is “offering replacements for anyone who has already purchased one”. The phones were launched over two weeks ago in some markets, with those sold in China “unaffected”.
This was said to be because of a “faulty battery” in many of the phones, but the Chinese devices “used batteries from a different supplier”, with two or three battery providers working with Samsung to provide them for the phones. Samsung expects that it will take two weeks “to prepare replacement devices”, with 2.5 million devices manufactured and one million already sold, and retailers were told to quarantine the stock they have “pending the launch” in other territories.
Launches had already taken place in South Korea and the USA, but shipments had been delayed in South Koea last week “for extra quality control testing after reports that the batteries of some [of the phones] exploded while they were being charged”. As a consequence, the OEM’s stock “plunged” by around $7 billion (€6.2 billion) last week, and a series of videos and images are available showing the phones catching fire or already destroyed.
In the US meanwhile, consumer watchdog Consumer Reports claimed that the devices should be “officially recalled”, because of the “serious nature of the safety problem”, adding that it had discovered “that despite a halt in sales […] some retailers were still offering the phone for sale”. Koh Dong-jin, President of Samsung’s mobile business, commented that “we have received several reports of battery explosions on the Note 7 […] and it has been confirmed that it was a battery cell problem. There was a tiny problem in the manufacturing process so it was very difficult to find out”.
A Samsung spokesperson added: “To date there have been 35 cases that have been reported globally and we are currently conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market. However, because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note 7.
“For customers who already have Galaxy Note 7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks.”