Samsung testing confirms battery problems to blame for Galaxy Note 7 fires

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in iPhone
Internally, Samsung has concluded that the battery -- and not any faults in software, or other hardware -- was reportedly to blame for the fires that led to the recall and ultimate cancellation of the Galaxy Note 7.




The company was finally able to reproduce the fires during the course of its investigation, and ruled out other causes, a source told Reuters. It's not yet clear though whether Samsung is blaming defective parts, or as is sometimes suspected, that there was simply too little space allocated for the battery.

Samsung will likely officially announce the results of its investigation on Jan. 23, a day before it puts out fourth-quarter financial results, the source said. At the same time, the company is expected to detail plans to prevent future catastrophes -- something critical if it wants healthy sales of its upcoming flagship handset, the Galaxy S8.

The investigation was originally launched in October, when Samsung halted Note 7 production. The company promised to hire third-party firms to help.

The Note 7 was allegedly rushed to market to seize more sales from Apple, which was preparing to launch the iPhone 7. As a consequence of the fires, though, Samsung is now expected to take a financial hit upwards of $5.2 billion.

Compounding the situation, the acting head of the company -- Lee Jae-yong -- has been served with an arrest warrant for his supposed involvement in the influence-peddling scandal involving South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her friend Choi Soon-sil. Other corporations in the country, such as LG and Hyundai, have also become embroiled.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 29
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,931member
    Well, you have Samsung investigating the fires and Samsung releasing the results of the investigation. They have a  vested interest in preventing this from happening again, but also a vested interest in not releasing any details that would be (further) bad PR for the company, so I'm not sure how much you can take from this.

    My take is that Samsung is just like most, if not all other tech companies. Pressure to release devices that are more feature-packed, faster, more powerful and yet smaller than the last generation, and more importantly do it before the competition. Engineering can't keep up with the demands of marketing and management and lo and behold something like this happens. 
    calijony0
  • Reply 2 of 29
    Samsung has hit a new low. If you think their phones have issues, try to get one of their Appliances fixed. 
    magman1979caliwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 29
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    I feel like the title should have read: Samsung testing confirms [a] battery [of] problems to blame for Galaxy Note 7 fires
    tmaymacxpressmagman1979king editor the grateStrangeDaysanantksundaramwatto_cobraradarthekatredgeminipastarwars
  • Reply 4 of 29
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Bobbydig said:
    Samsung has hit a new low. If you think their phones have issues, try to get one of their Appliances fixed. 
    Apparently there’s a class action lawsuit floating around over their french door refrigerators emitting fouls odors because of a drainage problem. We have a Samsung french door with this exact problem.
    magman1979caliwatto_cobraration al
  • Reply 5 of 29
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member


    At the same time, the company is expected to detail plans to prevent future catastrophes -- something critical if it wants healthy sales of its upcoming flagship handset, the Galaxy S8.

    Pffft! The Galaxy 8 will be hailed as the ultimate iPhone killer with no mention of battery issues and Samdroids will purchase them in droves.
    magman1979caliequality72521watto_cobraredgeminipa
  • Reply 6 of 29
    chadbagchadbag Posts: 2,000member
    sog35 said:
    BULLSHIT

    They changed the battery and it still blew up.
    Did you read the article?  The problem lying with the battery does not mean that a specific battery brand was at fault.   If there was not enough space for the battery to expand, two similarly specced batteries from two manufacturers could both behave the same way.  
  • Reply 7 of 29
    chadbag said:
    sog35 said:
    BULLSHIT

    They changed the battery and it still blew up.
    Did you read the article?  The problem lying with the battery does not mean that a specific battery brand was at fault.   If there was not enough space for the battery to expand, two similarly specced batteries from two manufacturers could both behave the same way.  
    But then it is not the "problem of the battery", as they say! 
    Of course, the phone catched on fire because the battery did, but then it means that the problem is in construction that forces the battery to catch on fire. Got it?
    80s_Apple_GuyStrangeDayswatto_cobraradarthekat
  • Reply 8 of 29
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,311member
    chadbag said:
    sog35 said:
    BULLSHIT

    They changed the battery and it still blew up.
    Did you read the article?  The problem lying with the battery does not mean that a specific battery brand was at fault.   If there was not enough space for the battery to expand, two similarly specced batteries from two manufacturers could both behave the same way.  
    Samesung is blaming the battery. Yet the problem was the SAME for the battery from 2 different company's. The fact is there was not enough space for the battery they put into the phone, which if rumors are true, they ended up installing a larger battery then originally designed. These battery's do expand, especially as they get older. This is not a battery issue. Nothing was wrong with the battery's. It was their stupidity. Either they were dumb in not allowing enough space for the battery to expand over time, or they installed a larger batter because it fit, but didn't expand where it was going into the phone and so had no room to expand. In either case, it wasn't really a battery issue. it was a phone design issue. The recalled happen because they knew over time as those phones got older and older, more and more phones would be blowing up as the battery's aged and expanded. At the very least the phone would pop open. At worse as the battery plates get compressed, the phone blows up. Who knows how huge of a problem it could have been after a year?
    magman1979watto_cobraradarthekat
  • Reply 9 of 29
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,311member
    lkrupp said:


    At the same time, the company is expected to detail plans to prevent future catastrophes -- something critical if it wants healthy sales of its upcoming flagship handset, the Galaxy S8.

    Pffft! The Galaxy 8 will be hailed as the ultimate iPhone killer with no mention of battery issues and Samdroids will purchase them in droves.
    Every year it's the iPhone killer, yet it never kills it. So nothing new.
    peterhartmagman1979caliwatto_cobraradarthekatredgeminipa
  • Reply 10 of 29
    sog35 said:
    BULLSHIT

    They changed the battery and it still blew up.

    The article didn't say they changed the battery and blowing up stopped.

    According to that, do you use the word "BULLSHIT" as an introductory word for the rest of your comment?
    edited January 2017
  • Reply 11 of 29
    sog35 said:
    chadbag said:
    sog35 said:
    BULLSHIT

    They changed the battery and it still blew up.
    Did you read the article?  The problem lying with the battery does not mean that a specific battery brand was at fault.   If there was not enough space for the battery to expand, two similarly specced batteries from two manufacturers could both behave the same way.  
    Did you read the article?

    Samsung did not say it was not enough space. Go read the article again.
    Did you read the article? A source said Not samsung.
  • Reply 12 of 29
    linkmanlinkman Posts: 1,035member
    Samsung should have discovered and been able to reproduce the problem before product release. Perhaps they would discover problems like it if they did adequate testing instead of rushing things to market.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 29
    JinTechJinTech Posts: 1,023member
    Something tells me their next phone will have the same issues. 
    caliwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 29
    fracfrac Posts: 480member
    jbdragon said:
    lkrupp said:


    At the same time, the company is expected to detail plans to prevent future catastrophes -- something critical if it wants healthy sales of its upcoming flagship handset, the Galaxy S8.

    Pffft! The Galaxy 8 will be hailed as the ultimate iPhone killer with no mention of battery issues and Samdroids will purchase them in droves.
    Every year it's the iPhone killer, yet it never kills it. So nothing new.

    sog35 said:
    chadbag said:
    sog35 said:
    BULLSHIT

    They changed the battery and it still blew up.
    Did you read the article?  The problem lying with the battery does not mean that a specific battery brand was at fault.   If there was not enough space for the battery to expand, two similarly specced batteries from two manufacturers could both behave the same way.  
    Did you read the article?

    Samsung did not say it was not enough space. Go read the article again.
    1. It seems NOTHING that Samsung does, either device failures, corporate espionage or company executive illegalities, will ever change their user's support. Because Apple. 
    2. Which would you rather be remembered for? A bad batch of batteries or poor engineering and a broken management structure that displayed hubris in place of adequate quality assessment and testing? 
    watto_cobraradarthekat
  • Reply 15 of 29
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    JinTech said:
    Something tells me their next phone will have the same issues. 
    Did this hurt their bottom line? Is the fix for this financially viable? I bet that it is.

    NARRATOR: "A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one."

  • Reply 16 of 29
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Tech media will declare it to be a minor problem but the lack of the headphone jack is proof of Apple's impending doom.
    Solicaliwatto_cobraradarthekat
  • Reply 17 of 29
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    jbdragon said:
    lkrupp said:


    At the same time, the company is expected to detail plans to prevent future catastrophes -- something critical if it wants healthy sales of its upcoming flagship handset, the Galaxy S8.

    Pffft! The Galaxy 8 will be hailed as the ultimate iPhone killer with no mention of battery issues and Samdroids will purchase them in droves.
    Every year it's the iPhone killer, yet it never kills it. So nothing new.
    I'm still waiting for the iPod killer myself. :)

    jungmark said:
    Tech media will declare it to be a minor problem but the lack of the headphone jack is proof of Apple's impending doom.
    "Galaxy Note 7 was "'too innovative'". remember that one?

    sog35 said:
    chadbag said:
    sog35 said:
    BULLSHIT

    They changed the battery and it still blew up.
    Did you read the article?  The problem lying with the battery does not mean that a specific battery brand was at fault.   If there was not enough space for the battery to expand, two similarly specced batteries from two manufacturers could both behave the same way.  
    Did you read the article?

    Samsung did not say it was not enough space. Go read the article again.
    Did you read the article? A source said Not samsung.

    Did you read the article?
    radarthekat
  • Reply 18 of 29
    tzeshantzeshan Posts: 2,351member
    Outside experts already explained the cause.  The battery is too compact to fit into a slim Note 7. Some positive terminals connected with the negative terminals. This caused a short circuit. A short circuit will drain all the power in the battery rapidly. The heat caused fire and explosion.  This is fundamental electricity. 
    watto_cobraradarthekat
  • Reply 19 of 29
    jfc1138jfc1138 Posts: 3,090member
    sog35 said:
    BULLSHIT

    They changed the battery and it still blew up.
    Meh. If they spec'd an identical battery from other suppliers and the allocated space was insufficient the new ones would suffer the same pinching and failure. 

    "It's not yet clear though whether Samsung is blaming defective parts, or as is sometimes suspected, that there was simply too little space allocated for the battery. 
    edited January 2017
  • Reply 20 of 29
    tshapitshapi Posts: 370member
    The issue isn't the battery specifically. I said this before. 1) Apple underclocks everything. Samsung most likely does not. 2) the problem is probably with the battery specifically the quick charge ability. 3) of Samsung recreated this issue. Why not release a remedy so those who still have note 7's can continue to use with out any more issues 
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