Samsung is just a few days away from their official launch of the Galaxy Note 8, but a recent report about one of their phablet units have alerted consumers. The report claims that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has initiated a recall request for some Galaxy Note 4 smartphone batteries. According to the investigations and findings conducted by consumer welfare group, these certain batteries are prone to overheating and could possibly explode or burn, which is a potential fire hazard. However, this time around, analysts claim that it is not Samsung’s fault.
Another Galaxy Note battery controversy
The news seems perplexing given that the Galaxy Note 4 was released a few years back. Nevertheless, it was discovered that the battery issues were limited to a certain number of refurbished units. These units were issued by AT&T as part of their insurance program and were shipped via FedEx Supply Chain. CNET claims that a representative from Samsung confirmed that they are not involved with the replacement program. Furthermore, it was noted that the batteries involved were not authentic, which explains the tendency for the units to overheat. These items were distributed sometime between December 2016 and April 2017.
Steps were taken to ensure safety
Since last year’s controversy with the Galaxy Note 7 recall, Samsung has followed a procedure called an eight-point battery check as a safety measure.
The process involves a strict number of visual and physical evaluations done to determine if the product has no flaws. The company aims to rebuild trust with its consumers, especially with their next flagship smartphone being just around the corner. So far, their recently released Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus have not encountered any issues with their batteries.
Product recall and internal investigations
Last year, Samsung suffered heavy losses when news started to spread about its Galaxy Note 7. Several reports claimed that some of their flagship smartphones have exploded or caught fire for no reason. Therefore, the company issued a recall to address the issue regarding the handset.
After several replacements, which was thought to have remedied that problems, the South Korean electronics firm initiated another product recall due to the same complaints. Everything eventually led to a stop in sales and an internal investigation as to why the batteries burn up. Finally, the company publicly revealed that the problem was indeed its faulty batteries.
