Samsung and its batteries. The two had an amenable relationship until last year, which was about the time when batteries in the South Korean manufacturer’s flagship Note 7 devices decided to go Kaboom! Months later, Samsung is still attempting to put the fires out and new ones are already coming up.
Earlier today, a small fire broke out at a manufacturing plant located in Tianjin, China. The fire, which occurred in a waste facility, was soon extinguished without any material or other damage. However, Reuters quotes the local fire department which took to social media to announce the cause of the fire:
Material that caught fire was lithium batteries inside the production workshops and some half-finished products.
The plant belonged to Samsung SDI. The firm, which is a subsidiary of the South Korean company and manufacturers batteries among other things, was also the company which sourced the batteries for the Note 7 devices. What’s more, the company will also be equipping the upcoming Galaxy S8 devices with batteries and as such, reports of a fire at its plant are not particularly reassuring.
With that said though, batteries for the Galaxy S8 devices are expected to be very carefully monitored — and not just by Samsung. While Samsung will of course be keeping a close eye on the process, the South Korean government has announced a tightening of regulations in the country recently as well — a rule change that appears to have come in response to the Note 7 fires.
In the meanwhile, I wonder what are folks over at Samsung SDI putting in their Lithium-ion batteries?
