After months of speculation, Samsung Electronics has finally broken its silence and admitted that bad battery design caused the Galaxy Note7 to catch fire.
Following the global recall, Samsung heavily investigated and has finally released the results. It found that there were two separate flaws; in the first batch of phones the battery was too large for the casing and there was pressure on the upper right corner of each battery. This led to thermal runaway and short circuiting, causing the devices to overheat.
In the second instance, in a rush to release a second, albeit improved batch, the company used another supplier, Amperex Technology, but the battery was faulty as some cells were missing insulation tape. Plus, some batteries had sharp protrusions inside the bell and also thin separators, again causing short circuiting.
A team of 700 Samsung engineers conducted internal testing and reviewed potential problems on 200,000 devices and 30,000 batteries in a special designed facility.
Samsung is now working towards developing phones which will not overheat and has outlined an eight-step safety check for batteries, plus its phones will be designed with more space around the battery.
Samsung typically unveils its next flagship device during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, however the South Korean giant has revealed it will not be showcasing the Galaxy S8 this year. Samsung’s mobile head DJ Koh released the news but did not state when Samsung will launch its next smartphone.
