14 DAY TRIAL // Safe Galaxy Note 7 units are already available for purchase in several countries across the world, but the “exploding” saga is not over yet for Samsung, as it’s now facing the criticism of Chinese customers who claim the company is treating them differently as compared to buyers in the United States.
There were two separate reports of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones that caught fire in China, but Samsung managed to investigate only one of them, as no contact information was available for the second.
But in this one case, Samsung says that external heating was at fault for the phone catching fire and not the battery, explaining that devices available locally were not equipped with the same faulty batteries as in other countries where it issued the recall.
Furthermore, Samsung says the models in question were part of a pre-production lot that was shipped before the launch to give hands-on experience to customers, and the company decided to recall all 1,858 units.
“Bullying China”
But Chinese customers claim Samsung is now “bullying” China because the company has recalled many more units in other countries, such as the United States, while locally it’s only replacing less than 2,000 phones, blaming other causes for overheating.
“Caused by external heating? The heat of a person's body temperature can cause a phone to explode. Sure," one customer was quoted as saying by the BBC, while another one added: “China is a big market. Be careful Samsung, don't bully China.”
Similar criticism came from the local press, as the Chinese state newspaper People’s Daily expressed doubts regarding Samsung’s 1,858 unit recall in the country, while the company is recalling one million phones in the United States.
But despite these comments, representatives of Amperex Technology, makers of the batteries installed on pre-production Note 7 units, explain that these models aren’t targeted by the global recall because they do not come with faulty batteries. And this is why external heating is very likely to be the cause of the phone catching fire, the firm stated.
“We believe the heat problem comes from outside the battery. A very large likelihood exists that other factors gave rise to the heat problem,” a company representative concluded.