In Trouble for Smart Phone-related Accidents

Samsung Electronics is baffled by a series of accidents abroad associated with its flagship smart phones. In particular, the incidents are tarnishing the image of the global leading handset manufacturer as the rumors about product flaws are spreading via SNS channels even before the causes are clarified.

The Emirates247, a news agency in the UAE, announced on July 10 that a woman in Abu Dhabi, named Sarah Shurrab, experienced an explosion while charging her Galaxy S4. She was quoted as saying, “I was awakened by a smell of burning and found my Galaxy S4, which I had purchased at an authorized retail store in late May this year, burning at the charger terminal.” She added, “I don’t know how to explain this and I’m just so disappointed and shocked by this accident.”

According to her, she woke up at around two o’clock in the morning, about three hours after connecting the charger with the handset. She reported the accident to a Samsung Electronics store located in the Gulf region and received a reply that the company would go over the situation to find out the exact cause of the incident. However, the store where she had bought the phone has declined to exchange the product with a new one. “Samsung Electronics is just passing the bucks while refusing to let me have a new product,” she continued.

The Emirates247 also contacted Samsung concerning this issue and received an email. “We’re looking into the possible causes of the accident and have always kept the promise with our customers to offer the safest and the most comfortable user experience by sticking to our quality and safety management standards,” the email read, which is a somewhat stereotypical turn of phrase.

In the meantime, the photos of the phone and the charger in question have spread like wildfire via SNS channels. This is the first time that an explosion accident involved with the Galaxy S4, which was released in 60 countries around the world in late April, is given publicity. The local subsidiary of Samsung Electronics is planning to pick up the handset in question to figure out the cause of the accident.

Likewise, an 18 year-old girl in Neuchatel, Switzerland reported a similar incident on her Facebook page and to local news agencies, claiming that her Galaxy S3 blew up all of a sudden in her handbag to cause her to suffer second-to-third-degree burns. The company is said to be looking into the phone in Korea.

The thing is that the news and rumors about these accidents are spreading fast via SNS even before the causes are found out. The explosion of the Galaxy S3 that occurred back in June in Ireland has turned out to be a fabrication only after the photos were seen by a huge number of people worldwide.

Those who have heard the news are roughly divided into two groups, one claiming that the incidents are attributed to the lack of carelessness on the part of the customers and the other advocating the possibility of the defects of the products. However, such controversy itself could have a negative impact on the Galaxy S4, the latest flagship smart phone of Samsung Electronics, on which the company is concentrating its marketing resources.