Samsung Galaxy Note 7 CATCHES FIRE ON PLANE

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Catches Fire... Again

I've tried to hold off on this story until it drew to a close... and that seems to finally have happened. If you don't understand what on Earth I'm talking about, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has been having some trouble since it entered production on the 19th August this year.  And by trouble, I mean big trouble.

Ever since the phone was put into production, there were issues. This was affirmed by Samsung themselves on the 31st August when they said that shipments of the device were being delayed because of "additional tests being conducted for product quality."  If anyone was in any doubt what this statement meant, they weren't in doubt for long.

This delay in shipments of the device came alongside thousands of reports of batteries exploding whilst charging the device, causing smoke and, in some extreme cases, fire. This didn't seem to deter people from using the device, however. That is, until it happened to them as well. The scale of this device malfunction became so widespread that on the 2nd September, it announced a global suspension of sales and a global "product exchange program".  This meant that all 2 million customers who had bought a Note 7 were allowed to return it to a store and exchange it for a comparable phone and a refund for the price difference. You would've thought that would've been the end of the issue, done and dusted. But no. Because along with the phone replacement program, they also allowed you to swap your Note 7 that blew up, WITH ANOTHER NOTE 7, the only difference being they replaced the battery from the company Amperex Technology Limited, the main supplier of iPhone batteries.

Galaxy Note 7. Post Combustion.

Samsung believed after research on the affected models that the batteries were to blame, so when they were re-issued with new batteries later in September, Samsung classified them as safe. This seemed to solve the problem, until reports came in of batteries smoking or blowing up in the replacement Note products. This meant that the issue was not with the battery at all, but with some other hardware inside the phone causing the battery to overheat or begin to smoke. 

Since the first batch of Note 7 products began to catch fire or blow up, they were recognised instantly as a health and safety risk to airlines, the worst scenario of which making the plane catch fire mid flight. As a result, airline crew had to ask all passengers with the Note 7 to turn off their devices before they took off. Luckily, there have been no such disasters thanks to the quick response of airlines in response to this issue. However, very recently, on the 5th October there was a device that "began smoking and popping as they were turning it off" on a plane before take off. This led to a full evacuation of the plane, and luckily, there were no injuries. 

However, this does show that the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is still a risk to its users.

There have been reports of similar incidents right up to the last few days, one example of which being that an owner of one of these devices was hospitalised due to smoke inhalation on October 8th. This story is particularly eye opening, as the hospitalised owner received accidental proof that Samsung knew about the issue, in the form of a text message.

The patient received this text message from a customer service representative, after being sent it by accident.

"Just got this now. I can try and slow him down if we think it will matter, or we just let him do what he keeps threatening to do and see if he does it."

Two days ago, on the 9th of October, Samsung initiated the second recall "until further notice" and until further investigation was conducted.

On the 10th October, Samsung stopped the product being sold worldwide, urging all current users to turn their phones off and replace the phone at the store that they bought it at.

Today, on the 11th October, Samsung announced the total discontinuation of the product, meaning that production of the device was ending permanently in the interest of customer health and safety. The research they were undergoing quite obviously yielded bad results.

But that sums up the story, and I'm glad I waited until it played itself out. This way, I can give you the full story, and hopefully not need to update in the future. 

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