Despite facing criticism and infamous explosion incidents of Galaxy Note 7, South Korean smartphone maker Samsung is mulling to launch Samsung Galaxy Note 8, a sequel of Note 7, in second half of 2017, most likely in August. While announcing its financial results for quarter ended March 31, Samsung said it will be releasing a new flagship smartphone, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, in the second half of 2017.
Usually Samsung launches its Note series smartphones in the month of August every year – Galaxy Note 5 was launched in August 2015 and Galaxy Note 7 in August 2016. However, after cases of explosion reported from different parts of the world which led to advisory issued by many Airports, the cellphone pundits were expecting that company will not revive Galaxy Note series. But to everybody surprise, Samsung's mobile chief DJ Koh confirmed in early January that company would be releasing Samsung Galaxy Note 8, a sequel to Galaxy Note 7.
Last year, Samsung pushed for an early launch of Galaxy Note 7, primarily motivated by the desire to sale more smartphone ahead of the release of Apple's 2016 iPhone models. But in this rush, company ended up bungling on some product safety aspects, especially the faulty battery, which led to explosion. And, Samsung had to recall the product and order an enquiry.
After months of investigation by company own investigating team and three independent consulting bodies, Samsung disclosed that overheating was caused by separate problems in batteries sourced from two different suppliers.
The statement said that batteries sourced from Samsung SDI, did not have enough room between the heat-sealed protective pouch around the battery and its internals. That caused electrodes inside each battery to crimp, weaken the separator between the electrodes, and cause short circuiting.
While the batteries sourced from Amperex Technology Limited, some cells were missing insulation tape, and some batteries had sharp protrusions inside the cell that led to damage to the separator between the anode and cathode.
Samsung had claimed that it had tested 200,000 devices and 30,000 batteries in a giant charging and recharging test facility built for the task.
