Samsung Galaxy Note 7 official report – high noon, 23 January

The link is here and there will be simultaneous translation to English.

Samsung states, “Following several months of comprehensive investigations, Samsung executives will announce the cause of the Galaxy Note7 (GN7) incidents and quality enhancement plan during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, on January 23, 2017, at 10 am(KST).

Samsung Electronics, as well as independent expert organizations who conducted their own investigations into various aspects of the GN7 incidents, will share their findings. In addition, Samsung will discuss the new measures the company has implemented in response to the incidents.

iTWire will be attending the official Sydney press conference.

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The facts are:

Samsung Note 7 release: 2 August 2016 although not generally available until after 19 August 2016

Initial production run: Approximately 2.5 million units with two battery suppliers

First issues: Around 2 September. Samsung stated that a manufacturing defect in the phones' batteries had caused some of them to generate excessive heat, resulting in fires and explosions.

Recall One: 12 September a formal recall in conjunction with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission announcing it would either refund or exchange the phones for ones with a different battery made by a different supplier. Some 95% selected an exchange.

Later Samsung reported that 80% of devices had been replaced in South Korea, and 50% in Europe and North America.

Recall two: 10 October after it was found the replacement units were having similar issues.

Cessation of production: 11 October

Battery charging restriction: Samsung issued over the air updates to restrict battery charging to 60%, On 9 January Samsung issued a final update restricting any GS7 to a maximum of 15% charge.

Airline bans: From 14 October, the US FAA and Department of Transportation banned GN7 from airlines under its control and most other carriers followed suit

Carrier access: Samsung issued, where legislation permitted and telco carriers agreed, OTA updates to prevent network access and this happened from 4 November to as late as 5 January.

Other action:

• Samsung placed kiosks at major airports to facilitate a refund or swapping of the Note 7 for a loaner (that users could keep after replacement) and facilitated data transfer
• Samsung issued special kits to package the devices for returns comprising an antistatic bag, three box layers - the last of which was lined with ceramic fibre paper for fire protection. The shipping box also contained explicit instructions stating it was not to be shipped by air.
• Samsung stated that it would not repair or refurbish any of the returned phones and that it would dispose of them.
• The cost of the recall was put at US$17 billion in revenue and production

Despite this being the best-publicised recall in the world Apteligent (an app monitoring network) stated on 20 December that there still were “hundreds of thousands” of customers still actively using the GN7.

How many phones were affected?

It is hard to get an accurate figure because some reports were “me-too” hoaxes like the person who wanted to get rid of a car. Samsung was unable to recover over 20% of the reported handsets.

In all Samsung is aware of 220 reports of overheating prompting the original recall and a further 119 from replacement phones prompting the second recall.

IBT reported on 27 October Samsung has investigated 117 original phones and 90 replacement phones, but it was unable to investigate 47 cases. In the end a total of 85 original phones and 55 replacement phones were linked to overheating incidents - .0056%.

Was it the battery?

Much pure speculation has been written about faulty batteries, a perfect storm of conditions, faulty apps taking it to overdrive, and even industrial sabotage.

Samsung felt it was battery supplier number one’s fault. That clearly was incorrect when battery supplier number two started having issues indicating either a design fault in the Note 7 or the battery.

At the time a spokesperson said the company worked with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to take immediate action to stop sales and production. "We recognised that we did not correctly identify the issue the first time and remain committed to finding the root cause. Our top priority remains the safety of our customers and retrieving 100% of the Galaxy Note 7 devices in the market."

The most logical rumour to date from third parties is that it appeared more related to lack of expansion space in the case, but the exact cause will be addressed by the press conference.

Why so long for Samsung to announce the cause?

There are many reasons but essentially it was because the matter was largely out of its hands and had to be independently verified to the satisfaction of the global airline and other consumer protection agencies.

It is understood that several thousand handsets were tortured at an independent lab under government supervision in another country to keep the matter at arm’s length.

Samsung will release the official government and consumer protection groups findings on Monday.

Will it affect Samsung sales and reputation?

It already has affected sales, if only that GS7 buyers wanting this niche flagship with S Pen have had to look elsewhere or wait for news of a new S Pen device. Apteligent says that Samsung’s Galaxy S7 Edge was the main beneficiary but it also gave oxygen to Sony’s Xperia XZ and Google’s Pixel XL.

Given that the battery issue relates to the GS7 - one new model and the recall made that very clear - it does not appear to have affected the sales of other Samsung handsets. IDC state In Q3, 2016, excluding Note 7 sales, globally it had 21% of the total smartphone market. It has been hovering around 20-22% for some time. Time will tell.

According to Fortune Magazine 34% of new U.S. activations in the holiday period, were for iPhone (down from 40%) and 33% for Samsung (slightly up). It would appear that at least in the U.S. the GN7 issue has been forgiven.

From an “emotive” perspective some will criticise Samsung but the facts are that no company has ever acted so quickly, comprehensively or transparently to recall the product, nor been willing to swallow a US$17 billion bitter pill. Of course, every battery overheating or fire in any future Samsung model will bring cries of “I told you so.”

From a “will it happen again?” perspective it is up to Samsung to be very transparent and offer consumers valid reasons to trust them. It is highly unlikely that Note brand will appear again.

From a Lithium-ion battery perspective it is time the world’s best minds found a new solution that does not include such highly combustive components – remember hoverboards?

Damn - the Galaxy Note 7 was the best smartphone I almost owned!