Samsung says sorry to partners as it performs Note7 autopsy

Flaw with battery pouch and defective welds found to be at fault for exploding batteries

Samsung issued a grovelling apology to partners and customers as it confirmed that two separate battery flaws were to blame for the Galaxy Note7 fiasco.

In a press conference last night, Samsung said an investigation into "every aspect" of the phone - including hardware, software and related processes - had revealed that the batteries were solely to blame for the embarrassing episode.

Samsung issued a replacement programme for the Note7 on 2 September amid reports that some of the devices had caught fire. It then killed the device completely on 11 October after the issues persisted.

A "pouch design problem" was found to be the most likely cause of the thermal failures in the Lithium-I batteries used in the initial Note7 devices.

The negative electrodes within these batteries were damaged because the design of the battery pouch did not provide enough room, Dr Kevin White of Exponent, one of three independent organisations that conducted their own Note7 autopsies, said on stage.

However, the batteries Samsung put in the replacement phones following the first recall were found to have a completely separate issue, namely defective welds, Dr White went onto explain.

DJ Koh, president of Samsung's Mobile Communications Business, kicked off the press conference by "deeply apologising" to Samsung's customers, carriers and retail, distribution and business partners.

He stressed that 96 per cent of the three million devices Samsung sold and activated have been returned.

"We are grateful to Note7 owners, carriers, retail partners and business partners for their help to expedite this process and achieve this exceptional return rate," he said.

In the wake of the recall, Nomura Securities estimated that the imbroglio would cost Samsung $9.5bn in lost sales.

On the plus side, Samsung said the episode has led it to tighten its safety processes, including introducing a new eight-point battery safety check.

"Samsung hopes that this case will serve as an opportunity to improve the safety of lithium-ion batteries not only for the company but for the entire industry, and will actively share the lessons learned to contribute toward improved safety standards," it stated.

Talking to CRN, Tracy Tsai, research vice president at Gartner, said the fact Samsung had move to clearly explain to the public what went wrong was an "important step" in the vendor's journey to regain trust in its brand.

"Next Samsung will still need to be very careful in setting higher-quality inspection processes, at every step, to regain Note users' trust in the product and the brand," she added.