Samsung has recalled its Galaxy Note 7 units across the globe following reports of 35 battery explosions while the units were being charged. It is likely that the South Korean giant manufacturer will lose around $1 billion due to the battery cell issue. Sales of the Note 7 have been immediately stopped.
On its UK website, Samsung has declared that the company is prioritizing the safety of its customers so it is voluntarily replacing Galaxy Note 7 devices with new ones.
In its investigation, the tech organization has found that battery overheating kicks in when the anode comes into contact with the cathode. This flaw comes from a mistake in the actual production of the battery.
The glitch puts too much pressure on the plates of the battery causing it to overheat. Once overheating sets in, the battery undergoes a thermal runaway phase.
Along this stage, the temperature of the battery increases more and more until it reaches saturation and flash point. Samsung has also added that the incident is a rare manufacturing process error.
As of Sep. 1, Samsung's customer service centers have received 17 complaints in Korea, 17 in the United States and one in Taiwan.
During a media conference, the company has not directly addressed if the source of the faulty batteries came from its own Samsung SDI division.
SDI has been the company's primary provider of batteries for the Galaxy Note 7 considering that 70 percent of the phone units used batteries from this division. The other 30 percent has been manufactured by China's Amperex Technology Limited (ATL).
It is reported that Samsung increased ATL production so that replacement units will be manufactured as soon as possible.
Next week, the South Korean phone maker will begin shipping replacement units in multiple countries across the globe. It intends to compensate around 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in total.
Furthermore, many airlines as well as buses and trains have banned the Galaxy unit for fear of the product catching fire.
