Samsung to reveal cause of Galaxy Note 7 explosions on Sunday

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2017
Samsung is looking to close the book on last year's Galaxy Note 7 debacle with a press conference on Sunday, at which the company intends to reveal results of multiple investigations into the smartphone explosions.




Along with its own findings, Samsung will present results from "expert organizations" that conducted independent analysis of the Note 7 fires, the South Korean tech giant said in a statement on Thursday.

"Samsung Electronics, as well as independent expert organizations who conducted their own investigation into various aspects of the Galaxy Note 7 incidents, will share their findings," the statement reads, as reported by The Verge. "Samsung will discuss the findings of the investigations and unveil new measures Samsung has implemented in response to the incidents."

Referred to as the "Note 7 issue" by Samsung, problems of exploding or combusting handsets first surfaced shortly after the phablet device launched in August. Incidents were initially limited to South Korea, but the problem soon spread to international launch countries. Mainstream media outlets took notice when dozens of Note 7 fires cropped up in the U.S.

The ongoing issue prompted Samsung to halt shipments in late August, later deciding to activate a voluntary global recall of some 2.5 million devices. Samsung attempted a quick fix and issued replacement hardware, but those units suffered from the same defect.

Galaxy Note 7 sales were officially halted on Oct. 10, with Samsung announcing a permanent discontinuation of the line a day later.

The company publicly apologized for the apparent quality issues, at one point taking out a full-page ad in major news outlets like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. Note 7 was the first topic discussed during Samsung's keynote address at CES earlier this month.

A report earlier this week claimed Samsung in its investigation was able to reproduce the device fires experienced by consumers last year, and plans to officially announce the Note 7's battery was to blame for the incidents. That same report pegged Jan. 23 as a likely date for the press conference.

Samsung's press conference will be streamed live, with an English version available at Samsung.com.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 23
    They can blame it all on the CEO, fire him and then install a new puppet regime.
    caliandrewj5790anton zuykovwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 23
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    Why not tell your users now? They at least deserve that. 

    Sammy set a date like it's a keynote or something. 

    #bombgate
    #HYPE
    andrewj5790digital_guyanton zuykovretrogustowatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 23
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    Well if you do it on a Sunday it won't be as big of news as if they did it during the week. I think this is on purpose...
    andrewj5790calianton zuykovRayz2016coolfactorwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 23
    The cause of the fire was supposedly a battery without enough clearance, so any impact was really bad.  It makes you wonder if the devices with high impact protective cases still had problems...

    If so, which ones prevented the devices bursting in flames.  It would be a great marketing talking point for those case manufacturers.

    "If you you are worried about your phone exploding right next to your groin, buy xzy brand."
  • Reply 5 of 23
    More like "Samsung to heavily gloss over company-wide failure to oversee key product in key market."
    andrewj5790pscooter63anton zuykovwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 23
    pscooter63pscooter63 Posts: 1,080member
    This thread CRIES for an animated popcorn gif.
    /darnitall
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 23
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    "Note 7 issue" nice. Kinda like 'the Hindenburg issue.'

    I'm sure Samsung wants to control the spin on this before anyone else does, and as someone noted above, what better way to minimize the coverage than to hold it on a Sunday. I'm surprised they didn't hold it on Christmas. 

    Since the same battery was reportedly used without issue on other devices, I'm not sure how they're going to spin 'we had a bad design and rushed it to market before we could adequately test it.'
    anantksundaramretrogustowatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 23
    anomeanome Posts: 1,533member
    macxpress said:
    Well if you do it on a Sunday it won't be as big of news as if they did it during the week. I think this is on purpose...
    I'd have thought announce it on Friday afternoon. Although I'm not sure the management in Seoul would want to make the announcement at 1am Saturday morning.
    retrogustowatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 23
    levilevi Posts: 344member
    Oh yeah, can't wait...
    caliretrogustowatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 23
    macxpress said:
    Well if you do it on a Sunday it won't be as big of news as if they did it during the week. I think this is on purpose...
    Actually, if they were being really smart about the timing and wanted to bury the news, they should have done it tomorrow, Friday January 20. 

    (Darn, @anome beat me to it...)
    edited January 2017 radarthekatwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 23
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    macxpress said:
    Well if you do it on a Sunday it won't be as big of news as if they did it during the week. I think this is on purpose...
    Actually, if they were being really smart about the timing and wanted to bury the news, they should have done it tomorrow, Friday January 20. 

    (Darn, @anome beat me to it...)
    Wait, they didn't specify WHICH Sunday.

    It will be announced Super Bowl Sunday! 
    radarthekatpscooter63ravnorodomwatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 23
    I was under the impression that Samsung said if the battery icon was green, you were SAFE, and if it was the original color, you were going to DIE.
    Now Samsung says there's another reason for the battery exploding? Maybe the battery icon needed to be yet another color?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 23
    MplsP said:
    "Note 7 issue" nice. Kinda like 'the Hindenburg issue.'

    It's like The Bonnie Situation.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 23
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    After the press conference, AI should run a counter on the forum page showing a running total of explosion-related jokes. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 23
    anomeanome Posts: 1,533member
    macxpress said:
    Well if you do it on a Sunday it won't be as big of news as if they did it during the week. I think this is on purpose...
    Actually, if they were being really smart about the timing and wanted to bury the news, they should have done it tomorrow, Friday January 20. 

    (Darn, @anome beat me to it...)
    You know what they say: "Great minds think alike." Or is it "Great minds like a think"?
    StrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 23
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Cause: refusal to pull the product and willingness to rush to market. The technical cause is entirely irrelevant.
    edited January 2017 coolfactorstompywatto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 23
    anome said:
    macxpress said:
    Well if you do it on a Sunday it won't be as big of news as if they did it during the week. I think this is on purpose...
    Actually, if they were being really smart about the timing and wanted to bury the news, they should have done it tomorrow, Friday January 20. 

    (Darn, @anome beat me to it...)
    You know what they say: "Great minds think alike." Or is it "Great minds like a think"?
    The latter is owed to The Economist, I think...

    Incidentally, I just read somewhere that Samsung says "irregularly-sized" batteries were responsible. What b-s. Just a weasely phrase for "we made them big so that we could make some claims that we beat Apple on battery life."
    edited January 2017 watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 23
    The big reveal! Can't wait!

    It'll revolutionize the flaming battery segment overnight.

    Can we get a teaser, though? Maybe with a sexy shot of a smoky battery in a misty half-light? 


    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 23
    This is mess up. A presentation of their own fault. Maybe a full-hour documentary of battery explosion on TLC should be next.
  • Reply 20 of 23
    misamisa Posts: 827member
    The cause of the fire was supposedly a battery without enough clearance, so any impact was really bad.  It makes you wonder if the devices with high impact protective cases still had problems...

    If so, which ones prevented the devices bursting in flames.  It would be a great marketing talking point for those case manufacturers.

    "If you you are worried about your phone exploding right next to your groin, buy xzy brand."
    I believe this was the original suggestion about the fires, that there was not enough room for the battery to expand when it got warm, thus typical jostling of the phone, regardless if anything was running would set off the fireball. It likely wasn't happening to everyone all at once because some people are more careful of their devices.

    It's also very likely that people who put on "heavy" hard cases like the OtterBox likely damaged the battery in the process if this is the case. Only those really flimsy silicone cases likely saved any of the phones from imminent combustion.


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