Samsung’s Note7 problems spread to ‘safe’ China market
SAMSUNG’S smartphone problems expanded yesterday to China’s populous market, where the tech giant was looking into reports that two Galaxy Note 7 handsets had exploded in a country where it earlier said its units were safe and did not need to be included in a global recall.
The reports in the biggest cellphone market were a new setback for Samsung.
In the latest incidents, two people posted accounts on Chinese social media saying their Galaxy Note 7 handsets had exploded over the weekend.
US regulators ordered a recall last week. Aviation authorities in the US, Australia and Europe have urged passengers not to use or charge Note 7s while flying and not to put them in checked baggage.
The Note 7 debuted to rave reviews last month thanks to its speed, new software features and longer time between charges, which requires a more powerful battery. Users report phones have caught fire or exploded, in one case causing a blaze that destroyed an SUV.
Samsung had excluded China from its Note 7 recall. It said handsets sold in China were safe because they used different batteries from those linked to problems elsewhere.
‘So it seems like this is causing more trust issues and hurting consumer confidence.’
The Chinese battery supplier for Note 7 phones sold in China said yesterday that fires there appeared to be different from cases in other countries.
Amperex Technology, which supplies lithium polymer batteries, said the fires in China appeared to be caused by factors “outside the battery”. “We believe the heat problem comes from outside the battery. A very large likelihood exists that other factors gave rise to the heat problem,” it said.
The user, contacted by phone, told AP the Note 7 was bought on September 1 through the JD.com e-commerce site. The man, who asked not to be identified, said the phone started to heat up and vibrate late Saturday night, then exploded and emitted black smoke.
A second report on a separate social media account said an owner’s phone exploded on Sunday while the person was playing a game on it. That account gave no contact information for the user or details of where the person lived but showed photos of the damaged phone and its serial number.
The incidents were a “big blow” to Samsung in China, where consumers expected global brands to be better quality, said Nicole Peng of research firm Canalys. “Samsung will find (this) hard to defend.”
“Previously, they promised the China unit was fine and was using a different battery,” she said. “So it seems like this is causing more trust issues and hurting consumer confidence.”
Analysts believed Samsung SDI supplied most of the faulty batteries, while Note 7 phones in China used batteries made by Amperex, which reportedly also is a main supplier of batteries for Apple’s iPhone.
Last week, Samsung recalled 1 858 Note 7 phones in China from a different batch that had been distributed before general sales began. This week, the company began shipping new Note 7 phones to replace the defective ones. – AP