Samsung ‘To Release Galaxy Note 7 Findings This Month’

Samsung has identified what caused its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones to catch fire and plans to release its findings on the issue in mid-January, the company has said, according to a number of reports.

The electronics maker said it would delay the introduction of its next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8, from the company’s usual late-February or early-March window to April in order to rebuild consumers’ confidence, unnamed Samsung officials said, according to reports on Monday by publications including South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo and CNBC.

‘Root cause identified’

“We have identified the cause of the recent Galaxy Note 7 (issue) and will announce the results in the middle of this month,” the paper quoted an unnamed Samsung representative as saying.

“Samsung Electronics will release the Galaxy S8 in April,” another Samsung official said, according to the paper. “In order to regain consumer confidence, we will (first) have to focus on the announcement regarding the Galaxy Note 7 fire test.”

Consumer confidence

The company permanently halted Galaxy Note 7 sales in October following a failed attempt to fix the issue and said the move was likely to lead to a $5.1 billion (£4.14bn) write-off for the following three quarters.

Following the withdrawal it issued a software update that prevents the devices’ batteries from charging and disables their phone functions.

US aviation regulators banned the Galaxy Note 7 from commercial flights and one US service was delayed and nearly diverted due to a false alarm that one of the smartphones was on board.

Samsung declined to comment.

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