Samsung Names Culprit in Note7 Meltdown, Outlines New Safety Measures

It was the battery. That’s the conclusion of Samsung’s investigation into what went wrong with its Samsung Galaxy Note7 devices, a relatively small number of which caught fire and ultimately prompted a total recall and discontinuation.

It was the conclusion many industry analysts were expecting, and Samsung said its findings corresponded with those of three independent industry organizations. The issue was that the some batteries were short circuiting, which occurred in cases in which “there is damage to the separator that allows the positive and negative electrodes to meet within the jellyroll,” according to a statement from Samsung. This was an issue with both the original battery in the Note7, and with the replacement battery used after Samsung’s initial recall effort.

Samsung executives went over the findings at a press conference; and, as the company had promised, they also outlined new measures intended to prevent something like this from happening again. Such measures include an 8-Point Battery Safety Check that will include durability testing, x-ray scans, and disassembling; new safety measures including software designed to manage a device’s temperature while charging; and the establishment of a battery advisory group comprising experts including researchers from the University of Cambridge, UC Berkeley, and Stanford.

The company is clearly aiming to reestablish trust and goodwill with consumers as it prepares to launch its next big mobile device, the Samsung Galaxy S8, which represents an opportunity for the company to reassert its position as a technological innovator in the mobile market.