Repeated Explosion
Samsung Electronics has suspended shipments of the Galaxy Note 7 to the country's three major carriers – SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ – over a series of reports of Note 7 units exploding while being charged. Deliveries of Samsung's flagship phablet have been halted earlier this week. However, an official from the industry said, “We are not sure if Samsung Electronics is conducting additional quality control testing or it is just because of slow production speeds.”
On August 29, a video clip showing a damaged Galaxy Note 7 after explosion was posted on YouTube. The Galaxy Note 7 was severely damaged on the left side and burnt on the rubber case, in the aftermath of the explosion. Ariel Gonzalez, an American consumer who posted the clip, said, “The phone exploded right after charging. I didn’t get hurt but the explosion left a big hole in my carpet.”
On the 24th, a user posted in an online community called “Ppomppu,” which is frequently visited by smartphone users, “My boyfriend’s Galaxy Note 7 exploded while charging at night. It’s been less than a week since he started using the phone. I woke up by the bang and the smell of smoke. Fortunately, we were not injured in the incident and only our blanket was little burnt.” On the 30th, another user said in Clien, an online community for electronic devices, “My female colleague’s Galaxy Note 7 was burnt. When she called its customer service center, a Samsung employee collected the device as fast as an emergency service provider.” The product was reportedly exploded on the company’s cafeteria table not being charged. On the same day, another user said on Kakao Story, “There was another explosion of the Galaxy Note 7. A Samsung employee checked the site and he is currently in talks over the compensation with Samsung. You should use its original charger just in case and leave the phone far away from where you are while charging,” but the post has been deleted
An official from the industry said, “It may have problems in the battery management system since it failed to control electric currents properly.” A Samsung spokesperson said, “We will figure out the problems and fix them as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, the Galaxy Note 7 has more than 400,000 preorders during the 13-day preorder period, becoming very popular, and consumers will be able to receive free gifts on September 30, over a month later than previously scheduled.
It is noteworthy that a reader of Business Korea left a comment on the article of the same topic (http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/english/news/ict/15708-explosive-galaxy-note-7-samsung-galaxy-note-7-reportedly-exploded-during-charging) published on Aug 31, expressing his/her concerns that he/she experienced that a Galaxy Note 7, which he/she bought a day ago, cracked even though he/she didn’t drop the device, and got heated while charging.