Samsung Electronics will be delaying further shipments of its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy Note 7, with the company stating that it will be undertaking additional quality control testing on the devices.
The company, however, did not specify which markets will be affected by the delay and for how long the hold on shipments will be enforced.
In addition, Samsung will be halting all shipments of the smartphone to the top three carriers in its home country of South Korea, namely SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus.
Samsung did not elaborate on what required the company to decide to conduct additional tests for quality control, but for those who have been following the recent news on the Galaxy Note 7, it would be a sound assumption to link the delayed shipments to the reports of exploding batteries for the device.
One of the reports on an exploding Galaxy Note 7 involved a user who posted pictures on Chinese forum Baidu showing a destroyed Galaxy Note 7. The user claimed that the smartphone caught fire while it was plugged in for charging.
This report is just one among the many being posted by users on social media, with pictures to prove that their Galaxy Note 7 exploded while charging.
One of the culprits being proposed for the exploding Galaxy Note 7 smartphones are third-party USB Type-C cables. Such a cable can be seen in the Baidu post, which can be assumed is the one that was used to charge up the Galaxy Note 7 that exploded.
In November last year, Google's Ben Leung took it upon himself to expose the faulty third-party USB Type-C cables being sold online through retailers. He found that most third-party cables in the market did not meet the necessary specifications of the technology, and users that purchase them could be taking the risk of causing damage to their devices.
Using third-party USB Type-C cables to charge the Galaxy Note 7 could definitely be causing the explosions, but Samsung understandably is not taking any risks and has decided to test the smartphone anew.
That said, for those who have already purchased the Galaxy Note 7, it would be best to refrain from using third-party USB Type-C cables for now and instead use the one that came along with the smartphone. While it has not been proven that the third-party cables are the culprits and not the smartphone's battery itself, it would be a good idea to take extra precautions.
