After last year’s fiery Galaxy Note 7 debacle, it seems Samsung is taking extra precautions to avoid a repeat with the Galaxy S8.
For the Note 7, Samsung used two battery suppliers – its own Samsung SDI division, as well as China’s ATL. But according to a report from South Korea’s Hankyung news agency, Samsung is going to ditch its ATL for the Galaxy S8 and instead use an alternative supplier.
It’s believed that this new supplier will be the Murata Manufacturing Works, a Japanese company based in Nagaokakyo, Kyoto. The battery orders are reportedly being split in the future between Samsung SDI and Murata Manufacturing at a ratio of 4:1.
If true, this supply chain switcheroo comes no surprise; although faulty Samsung batteries were to blame some Galaxy Note 7 issues, an investigation revealed that ATL battery units were also flawed.
Still, it shows that Samsung is taking the mass recall of last year’s Note 7 very seriously, which may help to win back some customer trust. Samsung recently announced that the Galaxy S8 wouldn’t be launching at this month’s MWC 2017 tradeshow, largely thanks to more stringent quality checks that have been enacted after the Note 7 recall.
It’s now expected that the Galaxy S8 will be announced at the end of March, with a prospective release date falling somewhere in April. The handset is rumoured to carry Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 835 chip, and could show off major design changes – including the widely rumoured scrapping of the Home button.
Unfortunately, we won’t know the truth until the phone actually launches, so take this report – and any other pre-launch leaks – with due caution.
We’ve asked Samsung for comment and will update this article with any response.
Related: Samsung Galaxy Tab S3
Watch: Galaxy S8 – What to expect
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
