By Kim Tae-gyu
While Samsung Electronics is trying to leave no stone unturned, this time to discern the root causes of the faulty Galaxy Note 7 defect, the guessing game is intensifying and a new suspect has surfaced ― the company’s battery-testing lab.
Experts, however, point out that it is inappropriate to take issue with the practice of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer in checking the safety of its mobile phone batteries.
Samsung tests phone batteries at its own facility, unlike its peers in the United States including Apple, that ask third-party players certified by the U.S. wireless industry trade group of the Cellular Telephone Industries Association (CTIA) to carry out the job.
“Those who are not familiar with the details would jump to the conclusion that Samsung’s practice is responsible for the Note 7 debacle,” said a Seoul analyst who asked not to be named.
“But that is not the case. Samsung’s internal lab is also certified by the CTIA. In fact, the Samsung test center is far better than other independent labs in terms of equipment and workforce.”
He added that it is practically impossible for Samsung to cut corners because its in-house lab is also closely monitored by the CTIA through periodic audits.
Kim Jang-kyung, a senior official at Korea’s independent technology standard-setting body Telecommunications Technology Association, concurred.
“Some accuse Samsung testers of failing to pinpoint the risks of Note 7 batteries catching fire. But I believe that third-party labs would not be able to do so either,” Kim said.
“The CTIA certification is about ensuring compliance with the speculations set by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). I think that the certification does not guarantee 100 percent safety of batteries.”
Against this backdrop, experts demand that the IEEE standards on mobile phone batteries be strengthened to assure user safety.
An industry source said that Samsung has become the only smartphone maker with a CTIA-accredited testing lab because previous powerhouses like Motorola and Nokia sold their handsets and Apple mostly outsourced production.
“There is a suspicion that the CTIA talks about Samsung’s in-house testing lab as part of efforts to shirk responsibility. I don’t think so, but I think it is time to delve into battery standards,” he said.
Controversy on Samsung’s internal test lab started after Samsung pulled the plug on the Galaxy Note 7 in early October, less than two months after the global launch of its flagship device.
Then, negative news articles ignited more debates as they said Samsung is the only smartphone producer in the world that depends on internal battery-testing facilities for CTIA certification.
When contacted, a Samsung official did not comment.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has looked into the cases of Note 7 products having caught fire but has yet to produce any results.
“We were able to achieve a cooperative and official recall announcement with Samsung that expanded the original recall to include the replacement Note 7 phones. This was a key step to protect consumer safety,” a CPSC representative said.
“We are continuing to conduct a technical investigation that is intended to look for a root cause of the incidents. I do not have a timeframe for when that work will be completed.”