Samsung Confirms Dual Battery Fault

At a press conference today, Samsung officials said exhaustive tests on tens of thousands of devices and batteries had ruled out any problems with the device’s hardware or software.

Samsung confirmed what everyone knew, namely that it was a battery fault. Internal and independent investigations had “concluded that batteries were found to be the cause of the Note 7 incidents”.

In the case of the original battery, the casing was too small, causing it to short-circuit and ignite. It was replaced with a battery that had a different manufacturing defect but led to the same result.

Koh Dong-jin, the head of Samsung’s mobile business, is quoted by the Guardian:

“We sincerely apologise for the discomfort and concern we have caused to our customers.”

The company said there would be no fire risk involving future devices.

Meanwhile the heir to the Samsung throne, Lee Jae-yong, faces the prospect of arrest as prosecutors have accused him of making bribes worth millions of pounds to a close friend of South Korea’s president.