The Note 7 batteries that were used by Samsung Electronics were self tested in laboratories owned by Samsung, which is not the norm in case of other mobile phone manufacturers.
Self-Testing by Samsung
After the debacle of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, the spotlight is now being turned on the battery testing methods of the company. It is being alleged that Samsung had tested the batteries in a lab belonging to the electronic company, which is quite different from the usual norm followed by other mobile phone manufacturers.
Testing of Batteries – Regulations
In order to make sales of mobile phones with the major carriers of the US, smartphone manufacturers must test the batteries of the devices in one of the twenty-eight labs that are certified by the CTIA, which is a trade group of the wireless industry of the US. This is done in order to check whether the batteries are made in compliance with the standards that have been set up by the concerned Institute. According to this association, Samsung has violated the norms and is the only smartphone manufacturer that has used its own facilities for testing the batteries of the Note 7.
Battery Testing Questioned
The crisis of the Note 7 has now put the spotlight on battery testing. The testing unit is normally only a mundane part of the industry that shipped around 1.9 billion devices during the last year, according to research made by the Gartner.
Samsung’s Comment
A spokesman from the company, Samsung, stated that the internal testing laboratories did not show evidence of any issues in the Note 7 devices, both the original ones and the replaced ones. However, both the original devices and the replacement ones have been known to catch fire. The Note 7 was then recalled and the production has been ended.
Other Smartphone Manufacturers
According to Apple Inc. they make use of a third party lab that is certified by CTIA for testing their batteries. As for Huawei Technologies, they did not make any comments. According to Motorola and Nokia, they both operate through battery labs that are CTIA certified. However, the association states that both the laboratories are now being closed down. According to Motorola, it makes tests at its own laboratories but makes use of third party labs to get CTIA certification. Microsoft did not make any comment.
Samsung Assures Quality in Future
Samsung made a statement that the company had plans to make a lot of improvement and changes in the quality procedures, as an aftermath to the Note 7 debacle. However, the company did not make any comment regarding the use of third party labs in case of testing batteries.
CTIA Certification
According to Tom Sawanobori, who is the CTO at CTIA, the association tests the laboratories in order to ensure that all the personnel are well qualified and that they are complying with the set standards, without any influence from specific manufacturers. Tests are conducted in a separate facility and are separately controlled.