Samsung Delays Shipments of Galaxy Note 7 Due to Exploding Batteries; Recall Announced
By Simon Hung
September 1, 2016September 2 update: Samsung has officially recalled all Galaxy Note 7 phones worldwide after confirming 35 cases of battery explosions. Customers who own the phone can swap them for new smartphones, regardless of when they purchased them, but Samsung estimates that it may take two weeks for new inventory to be available. Contact your carrier or store of purchase for more information. If you purchased the phone through a third-party like Kijiji, we recommend contacting Samsung directly.
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The Galaxy Note 7 was released in Canada less than two weeks ago on August 19, but after numerous reports of exploding batteries from users, Samsung has announced that they will be delaying shipments of their latest flagship device to perform more quality control testing.
At first, the delay only affected phones in the South Korean market, but the phone has since been pulled from Belgian and Serbian markets as well. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency has reported that an anonymous Samsung official has said that they are investigating the issue and will announce the results within a week. The source also claims that the explosions can be traced to faulty batteries manufactured by ITM Semiconductor and that talks are currently underway with business partners in the U.S. on how to resolve the issue. The agency also reported that five or six explosions were reported and that a recall is expected.
Samsung has yet to officially confirm if the issue also affects devices sold in Canada, but given the claims reported by the Yonhap News Agency, it’s not unreasonable to believe that some phones from initial batches sold in North America may also contain defective batteries. Further evidence to this claim is the fact that the Note 7's Chinese launch on September 1 will proceed as scheduled, due to the fact that the Chinese model contains batteries sourced from a different manufacturer.
It is unusual for Samsung to confirm a delay in sales and a recall of the smartphone would be unprecedented, given its recent release and high demand -- over 2.5 million phones have been sold since launch and Samsung was unable to keep up with the overwhelming amount of Canadian pre-orders. There is also a 22-page (and counting) thread about the phone in our Cell Phones forum.
Given the serious dangers of a defective battery and the possibility of an explosion, if you own a Galaxy Note 7, we suggest contacting your carrier to see if you can return or exchange your device, since early shipments would be more likely to contain a faulty battery -- the phone is available from all major Canadian carriers and Samsung Experience Stores. If you plan on getting the phone in the near-future, we would suggest holding off until Samsung rectifies the situation and manufactures new units with updated batteries.
The timing of this news is rather unfortunate for Samsung, as the Galaxy Note 7 has received rave reviews from the likes of The Verge, TechRadar and more. Plus, with Apple’s next keynote slated to occur on September 7, the news will further fuel the fire in smartphone enthusiast debates.
Nonetheless, a recall announcement would be the safest route for Samsung if the battery issue is found to be widespread, since there's no way to know if any particular Note 7 contains a defective battery. If you currently own or want to buy a Galaxy Note 7, let us know what your plans are with this news. Will you wait? Buy another phone? Let us know by leaving a comment.
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