Samsung seems to be in deeper trouble than it already was. A report from China indicates that a new, ‘safe’ Samsung Galaxy Note 7 caught fire and burnt the owner’s MacBook and fingers.
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 devices have been blowing up with disturbing regularity, forcing the company to issue a worldwide recall of the device. China was left out of that recall, however. Samsung noted that the Chinese model Note 7s used a battery from a different manufacturer and Samsung considered those batteries to be safe.
CNNMoney reports that Hui Renjie, a 25-year old Chinese tech worker, bought the device fromJD.com, a Chinese e-commerce website, and that the device was not included in the recall, as verified by the IMEI number. Just to be clear, the device in question was brand new, but not part of the replacement batch of Note 7s that is to be sent out to customers affected by the official recall.
Renjie claims to have left the phone charging overnight, only to wake up in the morning to smoke coming from the device. It then suddenly burst into flames, damaging his MacBook Pro and burning two of his fingers.
A Samsung representative apparently went to Renjie to inquire after the device and to collect it for evaluation, but Renjie did not give the device to the representative, stating that he expected Samsung to hush up the situation and that he wanted to go public with the evidence.
There have been at least 4 reports of exploding Note 7s in China, but Samsung has rubbished two of those claims on grounds that the battery wasn’t responsible for the explosion.
Even in this case, some members of Android Central’s forums suspect the cable and/or a faulty charger to be responsible for the explosion. This is just speculation at present.
Regardless, the latest explosion has put Samsung in a tight spot. Their worldwide recall only recently started gathering steam and the bad press was slowly dying out.