Samsung Electronics released another statement on Monday, this time addressing its exploding Galaxy Note 7 crisis in China.
However, while many believe the cause of the smartphone explosions was due to battery issues, the company confirmed that it was likely to have been caused by other "outside factors," more specifically external heating.
Samsung is addressing the issue with its Note 7 in China after it announced a global recall of all devices. Just like in the U.S., cases of the smartphone combusting into flames also went viral in China over this past weekend.
Samsung previously cited battery overheating problems as to the reason why it recalled 2.5 million Note 7 devices just two short weeks after its launch in a few countries, including the U.S. However, China was not part of this initial recall because Samsung said the phones sold in the country did not include the battery manufacturing problem.
After two separate instances of the smartphone blackening from flames after what the owner's claim was normal use in China were shared on Chinese social media and made the news, the company opened an investigation to see if its battery exploding crisis has expanded into China as well.
The South Korean tech company was only able to look into one case, because it could not obtain the second phone that reportedly also caught on fire.
Its report found that the battery was not the issue in this combustion case.
"The test results show that the damage to the device was caused by external heating," Samsung China said in a statement.
The battery supplier of the Note 7 phones that are sold in China, Amperex Technology, also commented on the matter, agreeing that the battery was not related to the explosions. Instead, the overheating was probably caused by other factors, although it didn't cite exactly what.
"We believe the heat problem comes from outside the battery. A very large likelihood exists that other factors gave rise to the heat problem," Amperex Technology said.
This is not the first recall of the Note 7 in China. Samsung also recalled 1,858 of the test devices in China that were distributed before sales began on Sept. 1 in the country. This was also because of overheating problems. Both these new cases include Note 7s that were sold after the China launch date.
Samsung has been under fire for its manufacturing error that has caused 34 different cases of its new smartphone exploding, with one of these cases happening while in the hands of a six-year-old in New York.
This couldn't have come at a worse time, since Apple just launched its iPhone 7, which analysts believe could sell 100 million units by the end of this year as more people refrain from purchasing the Note 7.
