The company has permanently halted production of the smartphone and provided users with ‘fireproof’ boxes to return the devices in
Samsung and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission have ‘formally’ recalled the Galaxy Note 7 meaning that every unit needs to be returned immediately.
An official investigation has revealed reports of 13 burns and 47 reports of property damage directly related to the recall. Figures suggest a total of 1.9 million phones will be affected by the recall including the initial 1 million original Note 7s, and 900,000 “replacement” handsets.
Samsung recently sent Galaxy Note 7 owners fireproof boxes and special gloves to return its now obsolete device in. This was the culmination of weeks of reports, complaints and incidents involving “exploding” phones setting themselves on fire.
The saga began with a “small number” of reports and quickly escalated into an all-out ban, with the phones being removed from sale. So how did this begin, what can existing customers do about their phones, and what does this mean for Samsung as a company? WIRED explains.
How did the Galaxy Note 7 crisis start?
In September, Samsung was forced to suspend sales of the new phablet after reports batteries were “exploding” and catching fire while in the hands of users, just days before the phone’s UK release.
At the time, Samsung said the devices were burning up due to an “isolated battery cell issue”. An official told the Yonhap News Agency in South Korea that a “problematic battery” had been installed in “less than 0.1 per cent of the entire volume sold.”
Customers who had already bought the phones posted videos online showing the badly scorched devices, including YouTube user Ariel Gonzalez.
“Came home from work, put it on to charge for a little bit before I had class,” Gonzalez said. “Went to put it on my waist and it caught fire. Yup. Brand new phone, not even two weeks old. Be careful out there, everyone rocking the new Note 7, might catch fire.”
The tech giant ordered a global recall of at least 2.5 million devices, with hopes this would be the end of the crisis. It assured customers the fixed devices were safe.
So things were fine after the recall?
It was assumed the smartphone’s troubles were behind Samsung, but last week a replacement Note 7 began emitting smoke on a US plane. A Southwest Airlines flight to Baltimore was evacuated on Wednesday after smoke was spotted while the plane was at the boarding gate. The plane was evacuated and no injuries were reported.
The wife of the owner of the phone, Sarah Green, told Reuters her husband had replaced the device about two weeks ago, after getting a text message from Samsung.
What did Samsung do next?
On October 10, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap, the company decided to temporarily halt production of the Galaxy Note 7 following talks with safety regulators as the replacement handsets also pose a significant fire risk and health and safety issue. This decision has now been made permanent.
In a statement released by the company, it simply said it will move quickly to investigate the reported case and work with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
“We remain in close contact with the CPSC throughout this process. If we conclude a safety issue exists, we will work with the CPSC to take immediate steps to address the situation,” said Samsung.
What does this mean for current Note 7 smartphone owners?
Samsung has advised customers to contact the network operator or shop where they purchased the original device. It has put in place a policy so that owners can exchange the device for a different Samsung smartphone, such as the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge, and customers should receive a $25 (£20) giftcard or bill credit as well as the new device.
Alternatively, owners should be able to receive a full refund at their point of purchase.
When returning the devices, users should power down their device and Samsung has been sending out “fireproof” packing to ensure the safe return of the phones.
Can customers return the phone by mail?
Royal Mail, which also owns Parcelforce, has said it will not be able to accept the posting of the faulty phones in light of recent concerns.
A spokesperson for the company told WIRED: “For several years, there have been Government restrictions in place around the transport of lithium batteries, which are also present in the Galaxy Note 7. All customers are asked to detail what is in each package so that we can make sure that we are not carrying items that are hazardous. Faulty lithium batteries are prohibited in the mail by transport regulations to all destinations.”
Yodel added that is bound by the same regulations as Royal Mail and “have advised consumers and clients that we are unable to handle returns of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. This is to protect our workforce and the other parcels that we carry.”
What caused the problems?
At this moment, it is not clear why the batteries caught fire. There has been speculation around how thin the device is and the location of the battery in relation to other internals but Samsung has yet to confirm this.
Earlier this week, reports suggested the batteries used in Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 were tested by a lab owned by the firm. In the US, phone manufacturers are required to test batteries in devices at labs which have been certified by the Cellular Telephone Industries Association (CTIA).
Samsung is the only manufacturer that uses testing facilities in-house, for CTIA certification, according to the association.
A spokesman said the firm’s tests didn’t reveal any problems in the batteries of both the initial phones and their replacements and further tests are being carried out.
What are the implications for Samsung as a company?
Samsung’s reputation as an innovative tech company has suffered since the first announcements of the faulty batteries. This comes at a particularly crucial time in the smartphone market as Apple recently announced its new iPhone 7 range and Google has revealed it is making its own smartphones, the Google Pixel, in-house for the first time. Samsung’s credibility as a smartphone pioneer will be adversely affected in this increasingly competitive market.
“This is one of their flagship products, one of the areas that motors brand values. Phones exploding in plane holds is going to leave a lasting impression, whatever Samsung does to fix the situation,” Vijay Michalik, research analyst at Frost & Sullivan, told WIRED.
The battery problem in the Note 7 may be down to wider competition in the smartphone market.
“When you look at pushing the boundaries of battery technology, when you’re putting more power inside a smaller area there’s more room for error,” added Michalik. “But in the future, we will be evolving to new types of battery technology that potentially won’t be susceptible to the same extreme failures.
For Samsung to recover its reputation, Michalik believes it needs to underscore this current episode and move on.
“They need to move forward with the S8 and to continue to display some of their more innovative products. We consider VR to be one of the next big emerging areas and Samsung has a strong position there, which puts them far above the competition in that space,” said Michalik.
It’s not only reputations that have been affected at Samsung. Analysts have estimated the first recall may have cost the company between $1billion (£805million) and $2bn (£1.61bn), due to the cost of replacing the phones and falls in the South Korean company’s share price.
This week, the company filed a revised operating profit estimate of 5.2 trillion won (£4bn), compared to the 7.8 trillion won it announced only a week before. Samsung also slashed its third-quarter sales estimate by four per cent.
When the markets closed in Seoul on Tuesday, Samsung’s share price fell 0.65 per cent, following an 8.0 per cent plunge the day before.
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