The Galaxy Note devices gained notoriety in September of last year after multiple consumers experienced their devices overheating to dangerous levels and in some cases even exploding. This news prompted Samsung to issue a full product recall and eventually halt production of their flagship mobile device.
During a press conference on Monday, Samsung revealed that the company and external testers had been conducting a month long probe into the devices software, hardware and batteries which ultimately lead them to conclude that the fault lay with the phones lithium-ion battery, designed in such a way that would cause it to overheat.
The battery of the Galaxy Note 7 contained several design flaws that mean the separator, designed to prevent the device from short circuiting, could bend leading to both positive and negative electrodes to touch one another and in turn short-circuit the device.
On top of this, there were additional factors such as the tip of the negative electrode being housed in the curve of the battery meaning it was more likely to make contact with the positive battery creating a thermal runway leading to the well documented phenomenon of overheating and combustion.
The phones have since been placed on the US no-fly list due to their volatile nature and are expected to have cause Samsung up to $5 billion in lost profits.
Samsung also explained that they would accept full responsibility and not look for any recompense from the battery suppliers, Samsung SDI Co Ltd and Amperex Technology stating that “Consumers will accept the results, only if there are no problems with the S8.”
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Despite concerns regarding its flagship phone production, Samsung is expected to release the devices successor, the Galaxy S8 later this year.
