Samsung's Conclusions on Galaxy Note 7 Recall Backed Up by Regulator -- Update
February 06 2017 - 1:20AM
Dow Jones News
By Eun-Young Jeong
SEOUL--South Korea's product safety watchdog has concluded that
overheating in Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy Note 7 smartphones
was caused by problems with battery structure and manufacturing
processes, following the smartphone maker's embarrassing recall of
3 million devices.
The South Korean agency's report comes two weeks after Samsung
concluded that batteries were the cause of last year's Galaxy Note
7 fiasco, which cost the company about $5 billion in losses and
lost sales. Samsung's conclusion was supported by two U.S. firms,
UL LLC and Exponent Inc.
The Korean Agency for Technology Standards' report, released
Monday, said there didn't appear to be problems with the smartphone
itself, or with its software.
The regulator's 13-week investigation found defects related to
Samsung's two battery suppliers: Samsung SDI Co.--an affiliate of
the smartphone maker--and Hong Kong-based Amperex Technology Ltd.,
which is also known as ATL.
For batteries supplied by Samsung SDI, the watchdog said damage
in the upper corner of the battery's internal structure was caused
by pressure from the battery's external casing, which led to
overheating.
For ATL, the overheating was triggered by a manufacturing error
that resulted in some batteries lacking insulation tape, which
protects sensitive areas inside a battery's structure, the
regulator said.
Those conclusions matched Samsung's own findings and the agency
didn't announce any penalties.
A spokesman from Samsung SDI said the company resolved its
manufacturing issues and has been supplying batteries to its
clients, including Samsung Electronics. An ATL spokesman declined
to comment.
Samsung hasn't released a flagship smartphone since its
September recall. The company's mobile chief said the company would
delay launching its next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8, which
has traditionally been introduced to the public at the Mobile World
Congress trade show in Barcelona in late February.
Write to Eun-Young Jeong at Eun-Young.Jeong@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 06, 2017 02:05 ET (07:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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