Samsung Investigation Finds Battery Was Likely Main Cause Of Galaxy Note 7 Debacle

Image courtesy of Samsung

Five months after Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 debacle began, the tech company is preparing to put the whole exploding phone thing in the past, starting with an inquiry into why the devices unexpectedly caught fire or began to smoke. 

Reuters, citing a person familiar with the matter, reports that an investigation into the cause of the Galaxy Note 7 fires found — perhaps unsurprisingly — that the battery was the culprit.

Samsung launched the investigation, which is expected to be unveiled on Jan. 23, back in October, noting that it would examine all aspects of the phone, including design and software.

According to the sources, the investigation, conducted by third-party firms and Samsung, were able to replicate the fires and determined that the issues were not explained by hardware design or software.

Still, pinning the issue solely on the phones’ battery comes as a bit of a surprise, as the company switched batteries when it released replacement phones in the fall. Yet, those supposedly safer batteries continued to catch fire.

Analysts tell Reuters that the upcoming investigation announcement needs to be convincing and detailed in order for the company to prepare moving on to the upcoming Galaxy S8 launch.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 issues began in late August when the company delayed deliveries of the device after reports it could catch fire and explode. Days later the company admitted there was a problem and announced an exchange program, but not a recall.

That changed in mid-September when the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced an official recall. In October, customers reported that their replacement Galaxy Note 7s were also catching fire or exploding. The company then halted production of the phone temporarily, and later permanently.

More recently, wireless carriers have “bricked” the remaining Galaxy Note 7 phones through a Samsung-produced update.

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