Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 fires caused by battery design, manufacturing issues, says company
Samsung Electronics said the exploding incidents experienced by its Samsung Galaxy Note 7 device last year were caused by battery manufacturing and design issues. The South Korean electronics giant made the announcement on Monday after conducting an internal investigation and hiring independent consultancies to analyse the issue.
The issue with the battery in the first version of the Note 7 smartphone, manufactured by Samsung SDI, was due to a slight deflection in the negative electrode of the lithium ion battery, causing a short circuit when the negative electrode and positive electrodes met, said Samsung Mobile chief DJ Koh in a press conference in Seoul on Monday.
The second version of the battery, manufactured in China by Amperex Technology, had abnormal welding bumps left behind during the welding process on the positive electrode, causing a short circuit when the bumps on the positive electrode penetrated the separator and the insulating tape that kept the positive and negative electrodes separate. The company also said that a number of batteries were also missing insulation tape.
“We provided the target for the battery specifications for the innovative Note 7, and we are taking responsibility for our failure to ultimately identify and verify the issues arising out of battery design and manufacturing,” Samsung said in a statement.
The South Korean electronics giant engaged three independent experts, US-based consulting and certification company UL, US-based engineering and scientific consulting firm Exponent as well as German testing, inspection and certification firm TUV Rheinland to investigation the reasons for the device incidents.
The Galaxy Note 7 device was launched by Samsung last August, but was recalled in October after a host of exploding incidents in both its original and replacement devices. Various airlines have also banned the use of the Galaxy Note 7 on planes following the incidents.
Samsung initiated a recall of about 2.5 million devices worldwide, and said on Monday that over 96 per cent of the devices that have been sold and activated have been returned to the company.
