Fire Breaks out at Samsung Factory That Made Galaxy Note 7 Batteries
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Samsung’s chain of battery-based bad luck continues: on Wednesday, a fire reportedly broke out at a facility that manufactured batteries for the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7.
The fire at the Tianjin, China factory, which is owned by a Samsung affiliate, was reportedly “minor.” The fire occurred in a part of the facility used for processing waste and did not affect production, according to a Samsung SDI spokesman. No casualties were reported and the factory’s production is apparently back to normal, the spokesman added.
The fire was caused by “lithium batteries inside the production workshops and some half-finished products,” according to a Weibo post by the local branch of the Tianjin Fire Department. The department reportedly sent 19 trucks and 110 firefighters to extinguish the blaze. Local residents also took to the Chinese microblogging platform to circulate pictures of the fire, which spewed plumes of black smoke into the air.
Samsung SDI was one of two primary battery suppliers for the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone — which was recalled and eventually discontinued due to fires caused by faulty batteries. That fiasco cost the company a reported $5.3 billion in profits, The Guardian reported. The Tianjin facility is the main manufacturing point for the affiliate’s battery production operations.
Notably, SDI is also slated to be one of the main suppliers for Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S8 flagship. It’s not currently known which device the “half-finished products” the Tianjin Fire Department mentioned belong to. However, as a result of the Note 7 debacle, Samsung SDI announced this month that it had invested about $129 million to safety measures, according to Bloomberg.
Still reeling from its battery fire fiasco, Samsung seems to be placing its bets on its upcoming Galaxy S8 to keep the company growing and relevant among its rivals, including Apple. That device is expected to be nearly bezel-free with no home button, a design that echoes rumors of Apple’s 10th anniversary iPhone.
