Samsung Electronics America President and COO Tim Baxter opened the company's press conference at the recently concluded CES 2017 by apologizing for the Galaxy Note 7 debacle.
Baxter said that the company has reflected upon what it experienced over the previous year, and that it has listened to the feedback that it received to make further improvements.
Another thing that Baxter mentioned at the press conference was that Samsung will soon report the chief reason behind the problem that caused the batteries of the Galaxy Note 7 to overheat and explode. His statement coincided with a previous report that Samsung will be releasing the results of its investigations into the Galaxy Note 7 explosions before January ends.
Samsung Investigation Pinpoints Batteries As Reason For Galaxy Note 7 Explosions
According to an exclusive Reuters report, Samsung has already concluded its investigation into the overheating Galaxy Note 7, with the reason behind the explosions said to be the batteries of the smartphones.
The source added that Samsung was able to replicate the explosions in its investigation, with the fires not able to be explained through issues with the design of the Galaxy Note 7's hardware or its software.
The information was acquired by Reuters from a source who is familiar with the matter, who also said that Samsung will likely be announcing the results of the investigation on Jan. 23, which is the day before the company unveils its earnings results for the fourth quarter of 2016. Samsung is said to be planning an announcement that will detail the measures the company will implement to prevent similar product safety problems from happening again.
Reuters' source does not have the authority to speak publicly about the findings of Samsung's investigation, and as such requested to remain anonymous. A spokesman for Samsung, meanwhile, declined to comment on the matter.
Galaxy Note 7 Battery Already Known To Be Culprit
The news that the battery of the Galaxy Note 7 is the primary reason of the smartphone's overheating issues that leads to explosions is not a new one.
In fact, according to the results of an investigation by an independent team of hardware engineers, the aggressive design of the battery of the Galaxy Note 7 was the culprit for the explosions. They found out that, to make the smartphones as thin and small as possible, Samsung cramped the internal components of the device, causing the battery to be continuously compressed. Such a pressure damages the battery's polymer layers, and once these layers touch, an explosion will occur.
However, it is notable that the explosions were not caused by the smartphone's hardware or software, which should make it easier for Samsung to prevent further occurrences of the problem by focusing on quality control tests for the batteries.
There are rumors though that Samsung will still be using the same Samsung SDI batteries that were earlier found in the Galaxy Note 7 on the Galaxy S8. Surely Samsung has already fixed the problems with the batteries if it would be using them again in its upcoming flagship smartphone, right?
