Samsung is finally ready to announce the findings of its lengthy investigation into what caused the batteries in its flagship Galaxy Note 7 Android smartphone to overheat late last year.
“Following several months of comprehensive investigations, Samsung executives will announce the cause of the Galaxy Note7 incidents and quality enhancement plan during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea,” Samsung said in an official press release posted to the South Korean-based company’s website. “Samsung Electronics, as well as independent expert organizations who conducted their own investigations into various aspects of the Galaxy Note7 incidents, will share their findings. In addition, Samsung will discuss the new measures the company has implemented in response to the incidents.”
As the Inquisitr previously reported , Samsung issued a global recall of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in early September of last year after numerous reports surfaced alleging that the devices had been smoking, catching fire, or even exploding due to faulty batteries. The electronics giant recalled all Galaxy Note 7 devices shipped to retailers in all markets around the world.
Samsung is holding a press conference to announce its Note 7 findings on January 23 https://t.co/KUlQfEsbbh
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) January 20, 2017
Out of approximately 2.5 million Note 7s that had already been sold at the time, Samsung confirmed 35 instances of the devices catching fire or exploding. That led the company to estimate that roughly 24 out of 1 million units, or.0024 percent of the devices, may suffer from the faulty battery that could lead to explosions or fires.
Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung’s mobile division, apologized to Samsung customers and announced that all customers who had already purchased Note 7s would be allowed to exchange them for new smartphones.
The recall was a major setback for Samsung. The company and many tech insiders thought that the much-anticipated Note 7 would finally make the Android smartphone manufacturer more competitive with its chief rival, the Apple iPhone.
Instead, the recall cost the company an estimated $5.3 billion, according to a report from USA Today , and knocked the company out of the reigning spot in the Android market, at least temporarily.
However, Samsung posted record profits in the third quarter of 2016 despite the recall, The Verge reports . The profits came primarily from increased sales from Samsung’s semiconductor and microchip divisions.
It has taken Samsung longer than expected to conclude their investigation into the cause or causes of the faulty batteries and why they were causing Note 7s to smoke and catch fire.
The Galaxy Note 7 recall came after iPhone suffered its own issues with what became known as “Bendgate” and “Touch Disease,” as the Inquisitr previously reported .
Bendgate centered on the tendency for early versions of the iPhone 6 to bend, sometimes to the point of cracking the screen, while in a user’s pocket. Later versions of the phone addressed the issue by using sturdier materials to construct the frame of the phone.
Touch Disease afflicted iPhone 6 and 6 Pluses with a flashing gray bar that appeared at the top of the screen. The smartphones touchscreen would then begin to perform poorly or even become “frozen.” In the worst cases, the screen quit working all together.
Some users found that applying extra pressure to the touchscreen or slightly twisting or bending their iPhone 6 allowed the touchscreen to sometimes work again. That was only a temporary fix, when it did work. There was some speculation that the the problem was actually related to Bendgate, and that sensors in the screen were being damaged by the phone bending.
Samsung will reveal Note 7 findings later today. Here’s what to expect https://t.co/uOITIZn7ie pic.twitter.com/yA5FX3xQf8
— CNET (@CNET) January 22, 2017
Finding out what caused the problems with the Galaxy Note 7 batteries must surely come as a relief for Samsung and offer hope that the company will now be able to address the issue and release a new smartphone in the Note 7’s place.
The press release announcing the outcome of the Note 7 investigation is scheduled for January 23, 2017, at 10 a.m. (KST), or 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST this evening. The full press conference will be available to watch via live-stream globally at www.samsung.com/galaxy and Samsung Newsroom , according to the official Samsung press release.
[Featured Image by George Frey/Getty Images]