Samsung rushed the Galaxy Note 7 to market — two different battery defects set it on fire

Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 7 in August 2016 to strong reviews. Within weeks, reports emerged of phones catching fire during charging. On 2 September Samsung recalled 2.5 million units, blaming a manufacturing defect in batteries from its affiliate Samsung SDI: the cell was too large for the phone's internal cavity, bending the electrodes and causing short circuits.

Replacement phones shipped in late September with batteries from a second supplier, Amperex Technology (ATL). They also caught fire. The second defect was unrelated: welding burrs on the cathode tab had penetrated the separator between electrodes. On 11 October 2016 Samsung permanently discontinued the Note 7. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission expanded the recall to 3.06 million units. The FAA banned the phone from all commercial flights.

Samsung's investigation, announced in January 2017, involved 700 engineers testing 200,000 phones and 30,000 batteries, with three independent firms — UL, Exponent and TUV Rheinland — confirming the findings. The company estimated the cost at roughly $17 billion in lost operating profit and introduced an 8-Point Battery Safety Check. The Note 7 remains the most expensive product recall in consumer electronics history.

Samsung recalled 2.5 million phones, but replacements from a second supplier also caught fire due to welding burrs, costing $17B and killing the phone.

The launch was timed to beat the iPhone 7 to market, compressing the testing window for a new battery design.

Two different suppliers produced two different, unrelated defects — the first recall fixed one and shipped the other.

Samsung's initial investigation identified the SDI cell-size flaw but did not test the ATL replacement batteries thoroughly enough before shipping.

The phone's tight internal tolerances left no margin for manufacturing variation, so small defects became thermal events.

A recall that fixes one defect and ships another is worse than no recall at all. Samsung's second fire proved the first investigation was incomplete — and turned a product failure into a brand crisis.