Samsung Recalls New Galaxy Note7 Due to Exploding Batteries [Updated]

[DakotaGuy]

Don't know about anybody else but I would still be nervous after I got a replacement that it could happen still. The paranoid in me I guess.

All lithium-ion batteries can and do explode. There have been reports of this thing happening to many different phones even iPhones. I'd say you assume some risk by charging any phone.

I won't worry once I get my new phone. Until then I still won't worry much, but I'll keep an eye on it while charging.

 

[1041958]

What a disaster. Fastest recall in history.

 

[mschmalenbach]

Wow, that's pretty good that after a month of releasing it, that they're recalling it for this obviously major problem. A lot better than GM and the 10-year ignition problem.

It might be the same root cause as GM though. And that is, aggressive supplychain management approaches (google PICOS and aggressive supplychain to learn more specifics).

What do I mean? Push suppliers to give the lowest cost, usually meaning the supplier ends up with unsustainably low margins, and so has to cut corners somewhere, or pull out... and if you are a supplier geared to the huge volumes of somebody like Samsung, you are stuck with doing ehat they want - you cant afford to lose that huge volume of business - you will never replace it quickly enough to come out evens, let alone ahead...

Arguably this is at the heart of the GM ignition switch issue (which, I understand, has over 30 deaths associated with it).

And Samsung are known to be extremely aggressive in how they manage their supply chain and supplier relationships...

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

What a disaster. Fastest recall in history.

You can bet that if the new iPhone had this problem, it's be a year before Apple did anything. "You're charging it wrong..."

Kudos to Samsung for going the extra mile to take these back so quickly.

 

[zombierunner]

Samsung Galaxy Big Bang

 

[scottytwo]

I knew the new Samsung Note 7 was hot, but not this hot!

I guess sales are really ** burning up **

 

[NT1440]

Frankly, I'm glad that Samsung is doing the right thing here. I have friends that love their Samsung and they are good phones if that is what you're looking for.

That said, from a PR standpoint, this was a kick to the nuts that Samsung really didn't need. Hopefully they can sort out the problem (my completely uneducated guess here is that the batteries are developing dendrites abnormally fast through the fast charging, but who knows) and make their customers happy.

 

[kdarling]

It's the potential for what those affected could do. The figure Samsung said yesterday is potentially 1% of devices, which is clearly very different figure to 'actual' devices that have exploded which would be substantially less - but if potentially it is 1% that's a huge figure and one that can't be ignored.

1% of phones having a bad touchscreen or a loose power button is bad.

Where are y'all getting 1% from?

Samsung claimed less than 0.1% ( < 2,500) could be affected, and that so far, 24 out of a million (0.0024%) have had the problem.

All the explosions occurred while in Wireless Charge from what I can ascertain.

All the stories I've seen, said the person was using a micro-USB connector when it happened.

Got any links? Thanks!

--

Maybe someone like iFixit should keep an original model to compare against the replacements.

If the replacements have a different circuit board design/chips or USB connector, then perhaps it was a deeper problem, or they decided to add protection against rogue batteries.

If nothing changes, then it would point to it being solely a battery issue, and likely nobody had kept track of what phone got what batch, so they could do a smaller recall. (I bet factory paperwork compliance gets really tightened up now!)

 

[scottytwo]

Wouldn't it be something more like ExplosionGate anyway?

#burngate
#meltgate
#toastgate
#marshmellowgate
#'but does it burn???'

 

[igorsky]

https://news.samsung.com/global/statement-on-galaxy-note7

Say what you want, but Samsung acted about as quick as any large corporation ever has on a recall. Many screw around for months until the Govt. steps in trying to avoid doing a recall.

On the bright side I'll soon be getting a brand new phone... That's always a good thing.

Yep, it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that if someone got hurt, or died, they'd have criminal liabilities up the wazoo. They absolutely acted out of some sense of right and wrong. I mean they steal ideas from competitors like there's no tomorrow, but in this one particular instance they did the right thing because they care.

 

[yaxomoxay]

with Steve this wouldn't happen.
oh, wrong post.

 

[2298754]

Coincidentally, I just replaced the battery in my corporate-supplied Note 3, because after years of sitting on a charger, the battery had swelled up and bent the case a bit. (After replacing the battery, the case fell back into normal shape.)

What does this have to do with anything?

My old unibody C2D MBP had a swollen battery after 2 years. Apple would do nothing about it. Had to go and buy a new one.

 

[1041958]

You can bet that if the new iPhone had this problem, it's be a year before Apple did anything. "You're charging it wrong..."

Kudos to Samsung for going the extra mile to take these back so quickly.

You can believe in fairy tales if you like. Let me know when Apple ever releases something that puts people's lives at risk.

 

[NT1440]

Where are y'all getting 1% from?

Samsung claimed less than 0.1% ( < 2,500) could be affected, and that so far, 24 out of a million (0.0024%) have had the problem.



All the stories I've seen, said the person was using a micro-USB connector when it happened.

Got any links? Thanks!

--

Maybe someone like iFixit should keep an original model to compare against the replacements.

If the replacements have a different circuit board design/chips or USB connector, then perhaps it was a deeper problem, or they decided to add protection against rogue batteries.

If nothing changes, then it would point to it being solely a battery issue, and likely nobody had kept track of what phone got what batch, so they could do a smaller recall. (I bet factory paperwork compliance gets really tightened up now!)

Has ifixit done a teardown of the current model yet? Maybe Chipworks?

I think a before and after would be fascinating.

 

[AdonisSMU]

1)0.1% of phones are affected Touch Disease is accounting for 10% of repairs.I have a Co intern using a Note 7 in the room besides me.He didn't even know of this issue till I told him.he said he had zero problems

2)This is only in news because The Note 7 just launched.No one would hype it if 5 months had passed since release.I could fetch you links showing the iPhone 6s melting,destroying from last month itself

3)Unlike Apple who has yet to acknowledge Touch disease for more than 10 days,Samsung initiated a recall and actively admitted the issue head on which is praiseworthy
How long did it take for Apple to admit bendgate?

Apple may not be admitting things publicly but they did swap out my phone over touch disease after running a diagnostic test on it.

As far as bendgate, that story was cooked up along with the bend test by a guy looking to cash in. The story was edited and the finance inter webs even noted that the timing was off for the claim to be true.

Secondly, you'll remember Apple invited the news media into their factories to show the actual stress tests being done on the phones and that it took like 90lbs of applied pressure to bend the phones. It wasn't like the phones were a fire hazard because users decided to charge them.

 

[shk718]

Does anyone find Samsung's ad's showing the phone being splashed in water a bit ironic?

 

[2298754]

so if anything does happen, I am pretty confident that Apple will react accordingly.

Ahh yes, you mean like the rMBP graphic card/screen issues? It took them years to even acknowledge the issue.

 

[grkm3]

wonder if it has to do with USB c and it's fast charging vs Samsung's proprietary older fast charging they used

 

[Nahaz]

I doubt it, we see exploding phone stories all the time and I can't recall the last time, if ever, a company halted a global rollout like this. Especially over what, half a dozen reports so far?

"According to Samsung, there have been 35 separate reports worldwide of incidents relating to the Galaxy Note 7’s battery problem. That figure represents the number of known failures at this point, but it’s not clear how many phones are affected by the battery problem (hence the recall)."

Taken from http://bgr.com/2016/09/02/galaxy-note-7-recall-everything-you-need-to-know/

The number has also been reported on other sites too.

 

[MacFever]

burn after reading

This message will self destruct after 5 seconds....

 

[AdonisSMU]

Unless you're holding your phone to your head while it's charging, this is hardly life-threatening. AFAIK none of the 23 cases worldwide resulted in injuries. The battery explodes, not the phone itself. The phone gets scorched and it will very likely make the room stink for weeks, but it won't kill you.

It could literally cause a building or house fire... It can kill you,

 

[GeneralChang]

Does anyone find Samsung's ad's showing the phone being splashed in water a bit ironic?

Maybe almost prophetic?

 

[1041958]

Where are y'all getting 1% from?

Samsung claimed less than 0.1% ( < 2,500) could be affected, and that so far, 24 out of a million (0.0024%) have had the problem

Nothing like carefully wording your post. A more accurate assessment would be:

"Up to 2500 devices have the problem, but only 24 have exploded yet."

We have no idea what the failure rate is for devices. Is it 100%? 10%? 1% within the first 30 days but climbs to 100% over an entire year?


BTW, Samsung has done something they haven't done since the S5 failure - they've given us actual real-world sales figures. 2.4 million. Hardly a blockbuster figure for what people have declared is God's gift to the smartphone world.

 

[The Game 161]

Wonder if Apple will throw any digs Samsung way next week? After all Samsung did with the whole headphone jack/pencil comment.

 

[mwd25]

Once again, all they've done is stop sales. They have done nothing, nothing at all, to deal with the faulty devices that have been sold. People really have sBlinkers on around these parts.

They are issuing a global recall for all 2.5 million of the phones it has shipped so far. Maybe your unaware of what global recall means but it certainly does NOT mean cutting off sales alone.