2-September, Suwon – After several reports of burnt and exploding Galaxy Note 7 phones Samsung has ordered a global recall for all devices of this model. The “phablet” sized smartphone was released recently and was available in ten countries so far. The costs for replacing the already sold 2.5 million devices worldwide is not disclosed by the South Korean company but considering a street price of about $900 plus logistics you can do some math around it.
So far there are 24 devices for every million sold suffering from burning while charging or shortly after charging process. Reports of exploding devices have been raised to Samsung and on social media, but are not yet officially confirmed. The technical root cause for the problem is not yet known but the official statement references problems in the manufacturing process. The device is waterproof but not flame resistant.
Users exposed to this problem have also confirmed that they have been using original batteries and original charging gear as provided by Samsung. Taken into account that the device has been only recently released this is likely to be true. Samsung is now preparing a global recall activity and will execute the necessary steps within the next two weeks.
This issue occurs with a very bad timing for Samsung as the device has only been recently made available and was supposed to keep an innovative output active until the release of the next normally sized smartphone of the Galaxy series. Next week Apple, prime competition to Samsung Mobile, is likely to introduce the new iPhone. Finally this is also taking toll on the Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (ADR) share prices.
Source: Google Finance
A news article from BBC captured a quote of a Samsung official that states, “There was a tiny problem in the manufacturing process, so it was very difficult to figure out,” the president of Samsung’s mobile business Dongjin Koh told reporters. He holds this position since December 2015 and this event will certainly be a bumpy one to maneuver for him.”It will cost us so much it makes my heart ache. Nevertheless, the reason we made this decision is because what is most important is customer safety,” he said.
While you could joke about the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 being the “hottest phone” right now, I hope buyers stay conscious of the risk of a device, setting fire in their homes. If you own one of these devices, please be safe and complete the recall activity and stay safe.
YouTube: Samsung Note 7 Caught Fire”>Samsung Note 7 Caught Fire
Photo credit: Samsung Newsroom
Source: Zoe Kleinman (BBC) / Jethro Mullen, K.J. Kwon, Felicia Wong, Hope King (CNN)
