Almost seven years after its Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, it seems Samsung is stuck in the same predicament as news of some of its smartphones' batteries started swelling a few months ago.
A popular Youtuber, MRWHOSETHEBOSS, first reported the issue in one of his videos, where he mentioned that only his Samsung phones were affected on all the smartphones he has in storage. Then, he did his own investigation and contacted some fellow Youtube phone reviewers. Several of them reported the same issue.
Since the popular Youtuber stored all of his phones on the same shelf and under the same conditions, he concluded that the problem must lie with the batteries of the South Korean company. However, not everyone experienced the same "expanding battery" issue.
Samsung spokesperson Chris Langlois previously said that this issue was known to Samsung, and he described it as a "safety mechanism" on all Samsung phones to contain the volatile gases caused by normal charging.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 All Over Again
Some 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 units were recalled in 2016, just weeks after its launch, due to reports of the phones' batteries exploding. A
fter several months of testing, Samsung released a statement saying there was insufficient space between the protective pouch of the battery and the phone's internals, causing the separator between electrodes to malfunction and cause a short circuit.
Several years after this disaster, no Samsung phones were reported to explode or bulge until several months ago.
A person checks South Korean tech giant Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 3 smartphone, in the MWC (Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona on March 1, 2022. - One of the technology industry's biggest annual get-togethers kicked off in the Spanish city of Barcelona yesterday, under the shadow of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Mobile World Congress, where smartphone and telecoms companies show off their latest products and reveal their strategic visions, is expected to welcome more than 40,000 guests over its four-day run.
The Explanation Behind the Battery Expansion
Battery swelling happens when the liquid electrolyte material starts breaking down. The liquid turns to gas during this process and starts expanding, which causes the battery to bulge. If the user continues charging the phone with the bulging battery, that's when the explosion happens.
If what Samsung claims is true and this problem is a safety mechanism, why don't all Samsung phones have bulging batteries? Does that mean they don't put this safety feature on all its phones, or is there a different explanation?
Samsung's leading battery supplier is a subsidiary company called Samsung CDI. One of its other battery suppliers was a Chinese company called Amperex Technology Limited (ATL). It seems Samsung held this company responsible for the Note 7 incident because, after 2016, the South Korean company cut off ATL from its battery supply chain.
Just a few years ago, Samsung once again announced that ATL was supplying batteries for its Galaxy A/M phones and the flagships, Galaxy S21 and S22 smartphones. Moreover, they used the same battery supplier for the Galaxy Fold 4 and Flip 4 in the second half of 2022.
Because of this information, one can conclude that the current battery issues are because of the same company: China's ATL. And the reason why this only happens to some Samsung phones after 2016 is the fact that there are multiple battery suppliers.
As a subsidiary of the main company, Samsung CDI would be under strict quality control and unlikely to be the supplier of these defective batteries. Based on some reports, the most probable reason for the recent battery problems for Samsung smartphones is its other supplier.
Of the 260 million phones sold in 2022, the unaffected Samsung phones' batteries are most likely produced by Samsung CDI and the defective ones by ATL.
Whatever happens, Samsung should address this issue directly. It's now in a duel against Apple for the best smartphone brand, and they would not want to be the company that blinks first.
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