Samsung Explains Note 7 Battery Explosions, And Turns Crisis Into Opportunity

tuxbuntu

January 22, 2017

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 7 to record preorders and sales in August, but the rosy start soon turned sour. Samsung had to initiate a recall in September of the first version of the Note 7 due to faulty batteries that overheated and exploded. By October it had to recall over 2 million devices and discontinue the product. It's estimated that the recall will cost Samsung $5.3 billion.

In a report released Sunday night, the company detailed flaws in battery design and manufacturing that it believes caused the crisis.

Recalling a product is never easy, and yielding returns of more than 30 percent is extremely challenging. Samsung aggressively told the media its goal was a 100% recall. Less than three months later, the company has reached a 96 percent return rate globally.

Tim Baxter, CEO and president of Samsung Electronics America, Inc., called it one of the first digital recalls. The company sent text messages and emails to communicate the recall. Samsung also improved the volume and speed of returned units by working with telecom carriers to issue a software update that would disable the Galaxy Note 7’s charging abilities, rendering it useless as a phone. Since the recall was a safety issue, service providers agreed to distribute the update to dimish device charging.  And when the Department of Transportation (DOT) banned the Note 7 on airplanes, teams of Samsung employees were sent to airports to help consumers and collect the phones.

DJ Koh, President Mobile Communications Business for Samsung Electronics, said in an interview with industry analysts, “Technology innovation is important to Samsung, but our customer’s safety is more important. We want to reinstate trust in the brand." To regain trust, Samsung had to identify the root cause of the issues with the Galaxy Note 7 and apply these learning to future product designs. In a press conference held Sunday night in Korea, Samsung told the world what actions it was taking to remedy the situation as it announced the official results of a months-long investigation into what went wrong with the Galaxy Note 7.

Koh Dong-Jin, president of Samsung Electronics Mobile Communications Business, speaks during a news conference in Seoul on September 2, 2016. (KIM HONG-JI/AFP/Getty Images)

Samsung builds a test lab to find  the root cause of the Note 7's issues

In the last 120 days, Samsung built a new test lab. It staffed it with 700 researchers, 200,000 devices and 30,000 batteries in an attempt to replicate the cause of fires in the phones. It tested the whole device, including areas such as the role of wired and wireless charging as well as fast and normal charging. It also tested the water resistance, with and without the back cover.

Samsung tested other device features such as the USB-C charger and Iris scanner. It evaluated the software and algorithms tied to wireless charging. It even evaluated how third party applications were impacting the phone. Additionally, it worked with three independent third party test labs - UL, Exponent, and TUVRheinland - to assess issues across software, hardware, manufacturing, logistics and handling. The finding from Samsung tests and the independent labs revealed the same results.

Battery manufacturing issues led to smoking phones

What happened? In short, batteries from two different manufacturers had flaws. The principal root cause of the first manufacturer’s battery problem (Battery A) was negative electrode deflections. The second manufacturer's product (Battery B), suffered from abnormal ultrasonic welding burrs. (For more information on the flaws (see the infographic ) While the principal cause was different in each type of the battery, the result was the same. A small subset of batteries could overheat and potentially catch fire. It’s clear that the smartphone industry’s desire for ever thinner phones with longer battery life has strained battery manufacturing processes.

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Samsung creates battery advisory group and designs an 8-point battery safety system

The company created a battery advisory group that includes leaders from various universities and specialized consultants. Battery Advisory Group members include: Clare Grey, a professor of chemistry at the University of Cambridge; Gerbrand Ceder, a professor of Materials Science and Engineering at UC Berkeley; Yi Cui, a professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford; and Toru Amazutsumi, CEO of Amaz Techno.

Going forward, Samsung has a new quality assurance process that both Samsung and its component manufacturers must follow. It has implemented a multi-layer safety measures protocol at the product planning and a new 8-point battery safety system. This system includes:

nfographic Galaxy Note 7, what Samsung discovered. Source: Samsung Electronics

1. Durability Test – Conducting additional durability tests, including battery nailing, stress testing with extreme temperatures and overcharging tests.
2. Visual Inspection – Visually checking the battery to compare it with samples confirmed to be in accordance with standardized criteria.
3. X-Ray Test – Running X-ray tests to inspect any possible battery issue such as a deflection of the electrode, which we found to be one of causes of the Note7 issue.
4. Disassembling Test – Disassembling the battery cell to perform a detailed check of the overall quality, including the battery tab welding and insulation tape conditions, which we found to be an issue with Note7.
5. TVOC Test – Performing a sensing test to detect leakage at the battery component and complete device levels.
6. ΔOCV Test – Inspecting the battery condition by checking voltage change in a normal temperature.
7. Charge and Discharge Test – Applying new large-scale charge and discharge tests to all devices, which we initiated with our investigation into the Note7 issues.
8. Accelerated Usage Test – Engaging in 2 weeks of real-life consumer usability scenarios, which we were able to shorten to a five-day test period.

Samsung will also contribute its learnings and processes for testing Lithium Ion batteries to various global standardization bodies. This act of goodwill also ensures that other smartphone vendors can request the same inspections. If the specifications were Samsung-specific, battery manufacturers might not adhere to the checklist.