14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung is currently going through a massive recall process, trying to exchange 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 units already sold to users so that sales could restart worldwide. The company announced it already replaced a large number of units in multiple countries around the world, but a recent report says that a safe Galaxy Note 7 phone caught fire in China.
Bloomberg reported that less than 24 hours after the faulty Note 7 was exchanged for a seemingly safe unit, the latter caught fire. Hui Renjie from China's Guangzhou city received his Note 7 smartphone from e-commerce website JD.com Inc on Monday.
The new, presumably safe unit caught fire, causing minor injuries to two of its owner's fingers and to the man's Apple MacBook. Hui Renjie stated that he received a visit from a Samsung representative soon afterward, who wished to take away the phone, but he declined. The man has said he no longer trusts the company and intends to publicize the issue.
Samsung representatives have stated for Bloomberg that they wish to conduct an examination of the device, once they receive it. Samsung had conducted an investigation into faulty batteries of initial Galaxy Note 7 units and found that the manufacturing issue indeed caused phones to overheat when charging. Samsung even replaced the previous battery supplier, switching from Samsung SDI to China's ATL company.
Samsung could struggle with consumer confidence in China
The whole recall process could cost Samsung up to $2 billion and the loss of consumer confidence. However, a recent press release from the South Korean company revealed that 90% of Galaxy Note 7 customers opted for replacing their smartphones, rather than getting a full refund. This would mean that people still like company products, but also that they don't see a viable alternative to the Note 7 on the market.
The latest report might cause some issues for Samsung in China, considering that many consumers were displeased with the fact that the company only included a few Note 7 sold in China in the recall process. This decision was mostly motivated by the fact that many Note 7 units sold in China had batteries developed by ATL and not Samsung SDI.