The problems with faulty Samsung Galaxy Note 7 batteries which overheat, catch fire, and explode during charging have already been well-documented and Samsung has currently suspended the sales of its latest flagship until their product recall is resolved and the problematic units are replaced. However, the official story until now was that the potentially dangerous batteries were produced by the company’s subsidiary Samsung SDI. That story may soon change as the online retailer JD.com Inc stated that Samsung is currently conducting an internal investigation after one of JD’s Chinese customers filed a report of a Galaxy Note 7 battery catching fire.
This information is significant because none of the batteries for the Note 7 version intended for the Chinese market were manufactured by Samsung SDI. As Samsung itself revealed last week, all of the devices sold from September 1st when Note 7 officially launched in China used another battery supplier. However, Samsung is still recalling close to 2,000 Galaxy Note 7 units used for testing purposes in China and it’s to be presumed that at least some of them contain faulty batteries. JD representatives haven’t disclosed whether the phone that was sold and allegedly caught fire was a brand new device or one of these testing units. The only thing that one of JD’s spokespeople told Reuters is that the online retailer has immediately contacted Samsung over the matter and that the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer is currently in the process of “conducting an internal review.” Chinese website Caixin reports that the incident allegedly took place over the weekend but no more details are currently known about the case.
As Samsung hasn’t yet responded to requests for comment on this report, it’s to be presumed that the company still isn’t finished with the aforementioned investigation. Namely, while it’s not unusual for corporations to decline to comment on matters that present them or their products in a negative light, Samsung has been relatively straightforward with the public regarding the Galaxy Note 7 battery fiasco so it’s to be expected the company will soon address this report from China as well. In the meantime, all owners of Galaxy Note 7 devices purchased in China can use the recently launched online tool to check whether their phone has a faulty or not.