Samsung’s not having a good year, and if the continuing explosions are go by, neither are its users or airlines around the world.
Barely a month after Samsung recalled all its Note range due to a fault in the battery which had caused explosions in devices in numerous incidents across the world, a replacement device which was deemed to be safe by the company has exploded.
The phone belonged to a passenger who was carrying the replacement Samsung Note in a domestic US airline. Even though he’d switched off the device as per flight instructions and put it in his pocket, it started smoking even before the flight took off. He immediately dropped it on the floor where it emitted “angry grey green smoke”. The flight was evacuated immediately and no casualties were reported.
This is the second incident in which the controversial phone has caught fire in a flight. Just about 20 days ago, a phone had exploded in a Chennai-Singapore flight.
Looking to prevent future accidents, Samsung had immediately recalled all the phones and promised its users a replacement device. Several airlines had cautioned flyers against carrying the device on the flight.
Worryingly, this incident involves a replacement device which was issued to the user less than two weeks ago, and its status on Samsung’s eligibility checker says “Good to go” as per Verge.
Samsung has already seen its stock plummet and losses to the tune of over $2billion arising from the Samsung Note battery mishaps. The additional events, even with replacement devices are not likely to augur well for the mobile giant. Barely a month after Apple launched its latest iPhone 7 and a day after Google launched the Pixel, Samsung’s far from competing in the fray for the best phone, and some of its competitors are already making a meal of it.
