If it is proven that the recent exploding battery incident involving the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is indeed a replacement device already, the Korean OEM might be facing an unprecedented second recall of the problematic phablet. The matter is currently being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and Samsung has already issued a statement that they are waiting for the results of the probe before making any other move, be it a recall or as suggested by some, a full pull-out of all the devices.
The incident occurred on board a Southwest Airlines, which was thankfully still at the boarding gate. The device was supposedly in the man’s pocket and was powered down as requested by the flight attendant. It then started to emit smoke and caught on fire which they were able to douse immediately with a fire extinguisher. The plane was evacuate without any other incident and both the passengers and Samsung were lucky that the incident didn’t happen when they were already mid flight.
While Samsung’s statement is to wait and see what the investigation will yield before they do anything, US carriers have been more pro-active in reacting to this latest incident. T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon have all stated they will be issuing an exchange program for owners of the “new” Galaxy Note 7 who would want to be safe than sorry. Details for their respective policies are still forthcoming and of course varies per carrier.
It really is a shame that Samsung has not been able to get a handle on this battery problem, or that it even happened in the first place. The Galaxy Note 7 was a pretty great device on paper and would have continued the OEM’s success with this latest line of flagship devices. Now everything is probably in tatters when it comes to the Note 7 and some have suggested that Samsung give up on it and just move on to rebuilding their reputation.
VIA: Bloomberg
