Samsung Note7 fires caused by irregularly sized batteries, report says
With 96% of the discontinued Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphones off the street, we may finally know what caused some to catch fire or explode.
A new report from the Wall Street Journal points to irregularly shaped batteries that led to overheating.
The report comes just hours after Samsung announced that it had identified the cause and would reveal its findings in Seoul, Korea on Monday, Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. ET. Samsung, which reportedly concluded its own exhaustive investigation late last month, "will discuss the findings of the investigations and unveil new measures Samsung has implemented in response to the incidents," the company said in a release.
The Journal, though, isn't waiting for that event. Its report outlines a cascading series of failures that started with the initial Note7 phone fires and led to a relatively small recall of Note7's that were carrying batteries manufactured by a single Samsung partner. Samsung's apparent decision to ramp up production of Note7's they thought were unaffected, may have been the key mistake.
Apparently, these possibly irregularly sized batteries were, the report contends, a direct result of a still unidentified manufacturing irregularity during this expanded run.
If battery size and shape does turn out to be the culprit, it will surprise virtually no one. Experts who tore down a Note7 claimed that there wasn't enough space around the smartphone's lithium ion battery in the first place. Lithium Ion batteries contain volatile chemicals that, when properly manufactured, are safe. However, punctures, undo pressure and mistakes in manufacturing can lead to interactions and shorts that can cause "thermal runaway," A.K.A. overheating.
Additional Note7 fires forced Samsung to recall all units in October of last year and, eventually, kill the product altogether.
Since discontinuing Note7 production, Samsung has struggled with customers and carrier partners to stomp out Note7 use and suffered the embarrassment of virtually every airline flight warning people not to use the device on airplanes. The company's next great hope for renewed smartphone success is the Galaxy S8, which may launch this spring.
Samsung would not comment on the report when contacted by Mashable.
Lance Ulanoff was Chief Correspondent and Editor-at-Large of Mashable. Lance acted as a senior member of the editing team, with a focus on defining internal and curated opinion content. He also helped develop staff-wide alternative story-telling skills and implementation of social media tools during live events. Prior to joining Mashable in September 2011 Lance Ulanoff served as Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for the Ziff Davis, Inc. While there, he guided the brand to a 100% digital existence and oversaw content strategy for all of Ziff Davis’ Web sites. His long-running column on PCMag.com earned him a Bronze award from the ASBPE. Winmag.com, HomePC.com and PCMag.com were all been honored under Lance’s guidance.He makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Fox News, the Today Show, Good Morning America, Kelly and Michael, CNBC, CNN and the BBC.He has also offered commentary on National Public Radio and been interviewed by newspapers and radio stations around the country. Lance has been an invited guest speaker at numerous technology conferences including SXSW, Think Mobile, CEA Line Shows, Digital Life, RoboBusiness, RoboNexus, Business Foresight and Digital Media Wire’s Games and Mobile Forum.
